Marriage of Harrison ( 1997 )


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  •                                   No. 96-190
    IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA
    1997
    IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF
    SYLVIA HARRISON,
    Petitioner and Respondent,
    and
    HAROLD H. HARRISON,
    Respondent and Appellant.
    APPEAL FROM:          District Court of the First Judicial District,
    In and for the County of Lewis and Clark,
    The Honorable Jeffrey Sherlock, Judge presiding.
    COUNSEL OF RECORD:
    For Appellant:
    Gene A. Picotte, Attorney at Law, Helen
    Montana
    For Respondent:
    James P. Reynolds; Reynolds, Mot1   &   Sherwood,
    Helena, Montana
    Submitted on Briefs: January 9, 1997
    ~mii '1 3    I$];t                   Decided:      March 13, 1997
    Filed:
    .,.   .,
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    Justice Karla M. Gray delivered the Opinion of the Court
    Pursuant to Section I, Paragraph 3(c), Montana Supreme Court
    1995 Internal Operating Rules, the following decision shall not be
    cited as precedent and shall be published by its filing as a public
    document with the Clerk of the Supreme Court and by a report of its
    result to State Reporter Publishing Company and West Publishing
    Company.
    Harold H. Harrison appeals from the judgment entered by the
    First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County, on its
    findings of facts, conclusions of law and decree of dissolution and
    from its order on his motion to alter or amend.   We affirm.
    We restate the issues as follows:
    1.    Are the District Court's findings of fact regarding the
    valuation of the marital home and land clearly erroneous?
    2.    Are the District Court's findings with regard to Sylvia
    Harrison's entitlement to maintenance and the amount of maintenance
    awarded clearly erroneous?
    3.    Is Sylvia entitled to attorney fees on appeal?
    FACTS AND PROCEDURE
    Harold and Sylvia Harrison married in 1963; both had been
    married before.     At the time of the marriage, Harold was an
    attorney, and Sylvia was a social worker, in Denver, Colorado.
    They subsequently relocated to Helena, Montana, and Harold was
    admitted to the practice of law in Montana in 1972.
    On December 15, 1995, when Harold and Sylvia were 73 and 74
    years old, respectively, the District       Court   dissolved   their
    marriage.   The primary disputes between Harold and Sylvia were
    maintenance for Sylvia and the valuation and distribution of the
    marital home and land.   The District Court ultimately valued the
    home and land at $218,500 (after deducting $10,000 from its overall
    valuation to cover needed repairs), determined that Sylvia was
    entitled to a full one-half share and ordered Harold to pay Sylvia
    $109,250 within 90 days or sell the home and land and pay her one-
    half of the net proceeds.   The court also awarded Sylvia mainten-
    ance in the amount of $1,000 per month until she received the one-
    half interest in the value of the marital home and land and $300
    per month thereafter until the death of either party or Harold's
    cessation of his law practice.   Neither party was awarded attorney
    fees.   Judgment was entered and notice of entry of judgment was
    filed and served.
    Thereafter, Harold timely filed a Rule 59, M.R.Civ.P., motion
    to alter or amend or for a new trial relating primarily to the
    District Court's findings on maintenance.   In pertinent part, the
    court rejected Harold's contentions that Sylvia did not need
    maintenance and that Harold was unable to pay it; it also deleted
    the reference to payment of maintenance until Harold ceased
    practicing law.   The maintenance award remained at $300 per month
    until the death of either party.   Harold appeals, focusing on the
    District Court's award of maintenance to Sylvia in the amount of
    $300 per month.
    DISCUSSION
    1.   Is the District Court's finding of fact regarding the
    valuation of the marital home and land clearly erroneous?
    At    the outset, we note that Harold does not state this
    valuation question as a separate issue in his opening brief.
    Moreover, the statements on this question in his reply brief are
    somewhat inconsistent.    He states that the "issue" is now moot,
    since he has paid Sylvia the $109,250 awarded as her one-half
    interest in the marital home and land, but also states that he is
    merely avoiding burdening the Court with "further" argument on the
    issue and refers us to the valuation-related argument in his
    opening brief.   In any event, since Harold's views on the valuation
    question arise repeatedly in his opening brief, we address the
    valuation issue separately.
    The District Court found that the total value of the parties'
    marital home and 120 acres of land is $228,500; the court then
    deducted $10,000 from that value for the cost of repairing the log
    portion of the home, based on Harold's evidence regarding the
    necessity and cost of such repairs.    Harold asserts error in the
    overall valuation, but his assertion is entirely without merit.
    We review a district court's findings of fact relating to the
    marital estate to determine whether they are clearly erroneous. In
    re Marriage of Lopez (1992), 
    255 Mont. 238
    , 241-42, 
    841 P.2d 1122
    ,
    1124 (citation omitted). Moreover, in a dispute over the value of
    property, the district court often must weigh conflicting evidence
    and determine which is more credible. Marriase of 
    Lowez, 841 P.2d at 1125
    . The court may accept any value within the range of values
    presented in evidence. Marriase of 
    Lopez, 841 P.2d at 1125
    .
    Here, two appraisers and a sales person for a real estate
    agency testified to the value of Harold and Sylvia's marital home
    and   land.    The values provided were            $133,920, $228,500 and
    $244,000. The District Court chose the middle figure, specifically
    finding "Dr. Diehl's estimate to be the most credible estimate of
    the value of the property and it is hereby valued at $228,500."
    This amount is supported by substantial evidence which the District
    Court specifically determined to be the most credible evidence
    before it on the question of valuation; the $228,500 valuation also
    is within the range of values contained in the record. We conclude
    that the District Court's finding regarding the value of the
    marital home and land is not clearly erroneous.
    2.    Are the District Court's findings regarding Sylvia's
    entitlement to maintenance and the amount of maintenance awarded
    clearly erroneous?
    The   District       Court   found   that   Sylvia   was   entitled   to
    maintenance under      §   40-4-203(11, MCA, and set the amount of that
    maintenance--subsequent to the time Harold paid her the $109,250
    one-half interest in the marital home and land--at $300 per month.
    Harold contends that the District Court erred in both regards but,
    again, his position is without merit.
    We    review   a     district   court's findings      relating   to    a
    maintenance award to determine whether they are clearly erroneous.
    In re Marriage of D.F.D. (1993), 
    261 Mont. 186
    , 201, 
    862 P.2d 368
    ,
    377 (citing In re Marriage of Eschenbacher (1992), 
    253 Mont. 139
    ,
    142, 
    831 P.2d 1353
    , 1355). In doing so, we first determine whether
    the findings are supported by substantial evidence; if so, we
    determine whether the trial court misapprehended the effect of the
    evidence; and, finally, we may determine that a finding is clearly
    erroneous if we are left with a definite and firm conviction that
    a mistake has occurred. Marriase of 
    Eschenbacher, 831 P.2d at 1355
    (citation omitted).
    Entitlement   to   maintenance     in   Montana   is   statutorily
    circumscribed. The so-called a-b test contained in      §   40-4-203(I),
    MCA, authorizes an award of maintenance only when the district
    court finds that the spouse seeking it lacks sufficient property to
    provide for her reasonable needs and is unable to support herself
    through appropriate employment.       Here, the District Court found
    that Sylvia is not employed or employable and that she lacks
    sufficient property to provide for her reasonable needs.        We look
    to the record to ascertain whether these findings are supported by
    substantial evidence.
    The record reflects that, at the time of the parties' marriage
    in 1963, Sylvia ceased working as a social worker at Harold's
    request. During the parties' 30-year marriage, Sylvia's only work
    outside the home consisted of helping Harold out in his Denver and,
    later, Helena law offices. That help decreased over the final five
    years or so of the time the parties continued to live together and
    ceased altogether when Sylvia and Harold separated totally in the
    early 1990s. Sylvia has had medical problems off and on since that
    time, including vascular surgery. As noted above, she was 74 years
    old at the time the marriage was dissolved. We conclude that the
    District Court's finding that Sylvia is not employed or employable
    is supported by substantial evidence.
    With regard to the court's finding that Sylvia does not have
    sufficient property to provide for her reasonable needs, Sylvia's
    total cash assets at the time of the dissolution proceedings were
    approximately $65,000. Her monthly income was approximately $550,
    consisting of   $407 in Social Security benefits and       $146 in
    dividends and interest earned on the cash assets.        The court
    increased her monthly income to about $790 by imputing additional
    interest income on the grounds that she could be earning 7%, rather
    than 3%, interest on her cash assets.
    On the expense side, Sylvia presented an exhibit establishing
    that her reasonable monthly expenses would be about $2,000 per
    month when she had reestablished a settled life for herself, to
    include a residence of some sort and an automobile.        Netting
    Sylvia's monthly income of less than $800 from her reasonable
    monthly expenses leaves a shortfall of approximately $1,200.
    The District Court also took into account that Sylvia would be
    receiving her share of the marital home in cash.     It did so by
    decreasing the original $1,000 per month maintenance award to $300
    per month at the time Sylvia received the $109,250 from Harold.
    While the court did not explain the basis for the $700 per month
    decrease in maintenance, that amount approximates the additional
    monthly interest income Sylvia could earn on the $109,250, applying
    the court's 7% interest figure.      Indeed, this seems to be the
    import of the District Court's determination that Sylvia would
    "have a pretty good amount of money set aside" at such time as she
    received the cash for her share of the marital home.     Adding the
    $700 additional monthly interest income earned on the $109,250 to
    Sylvia's current (and imputed) income would give her a monthly
    income of approximately $1,500, still $500 short of the amount
    necessary to provide for her reasonable needs.     Thus, we conclude
    that the record contains substantial evidence to support the
    District Court's finding that Sylvia does not have sufficient
    property to provide for her reasonable needs.
    Harold's attempts to establish error in the District Court's
    findings with regard to Sylvia's entitlement to maintenance are
    entirely without   merit   and   require minimal   discussion.    He
    contends, for example, that the parties' total monthly living
    expenses during the marriage were modest and never approached the
    $2,000 in monthly expenses, including rent, which Sylvia's evidence
    indicated was necessary to provide for her reasonable needs.     This
    contention is irrelevant to the issue of whether the a-b test for
    entitlement to maintenance under 5 40-4-203(I), MCA, has been met.
    In addition, it ignores Harold's estimate of his own expenses in
    the amount of nearly $1,700 per month, which did not include any
    rent or house payment because he continued to reside in the marital
    home.
    Harold also suggests generally, and repeatedly, that Sylvia is
    not entitled to maintenance because her assets are sufficient to
    provide for her own needs.   He does not establish how this is so
    and, indeed, his suggestions in this regard amount to a request
    that this Court search the record for evidence supporting findings
    contrary to those made by the District Court.      That is not our
    standard in reviewing a trial court's findings.         Marriaae of
    
    D.F.D., 862 P.2d at 377
    . Here, even the District Court's careful
    imputation of additional interest income to Sylvia, and our
    interpretation of the basis for the court's decreasing maintenance
    from $1,000 to $300 per month when Sylvia received her cash share
    of the marital home, do not bring her income near the level
    necessary to meet her reasonable needs.
    Nor does Harold's general assertion that Sylvia is being
    permitted to retain, untouched, capital sufficient to support
    herself bear out.   As explained above, the $65,000 in total cash
    assets held by Sylvia prior to receiving her share of the marital
    home contributes $380 in interest (as imputed) to her monthly income
    and decreases--but does not eliminate--the shortfall between her
    income and her expenses. Moreover, even assuming a court properly
    could deduct the $750 to $800 rent expense included in Sylvia's
    anticipated monthly expenses by imputing to her the purchase of a
    suitable residence with the $109,250 received as her share of the
    marital home, Sylvia's expenses would total $1,200 to $1,250 per
    month and her monthly income would total approximately $790 ($407
    in Social Security benefits and $380 in monthly interest on the
    $65,000 cash assets), leaving a substantial shortfall.     Thus, no
    matter how Sylvia's assets are viewed, substantial evidence of
    record supports the District Court's finding that she does not have
    sufficient property to provide for her reasonable needs.
    Having concluded that the District Court's findings that
    Sylvia is not employed or employable and lacks sufficient property
    to provide for her reasonable needs are supported by substantial
    credible evidence, we further conclude that those findings are not
    otherwise clearly erroneous.         On that basis, we hold that the
    District Court did not err in determining that Sylvia is entitled
    t o maintenance pursuant to
    .                             §   40-4-203(1),MCA.
    The remaining issue raised by Harold is whether the District
    Court erred in awarding Sylvia $300 maintenance per month pursuant
    to   §   40-4-203(2), MCA, which sets forth the factors a district
    court must consider in determining the amount and duration of
    maintenance to be awarded.         Harold's primary contention in this
    regard is that he is unable to meet his own needs while paying the
    $300 per month awarded as maintenance to Sylvia and that, in
    requiring him to pay the maintenance, the District Court ignored
    the "ability to pay" consideration set forth in       §   40-4-203(2)(f),
    MCA .
    At the outset of our discussion of this issue, we address and
    grant Sylvia's motion to strike matters not of record which are
    contained in Harold's opening brief, both generally and with
    specific regard to this issue, and express our strong disapproval
    of the inclusion of such matters in the brief.        In several places,
    Harold suggests that it is appropriate to take "judicial notice" of
    certain matters relevant to the case.        These appear to be fact-
    based matters not readily susceptible to judicial notice.     In any
    event, the record contains neither a timely request by Harold that
    the District Court take judicial notice of the matters pursuant to
    Rule 201, M.R.Evid., nor an indication that the District Court did
    so as a matter of discretion under that Rule.
    More troubling is the nonrecord "factual" material set forth
    over several pages of Harold's brief.      It is axiomatic that this
    Court will not consider evidence not contained in the record on
    appeal. Johnson v. Killingsworth (1995), 271. Mont. 1, 3, 
    894 P.2d 272
    , 273.
    Harold   argues   that   this nonrecord   factual material   was
    contained in his motion to alter or amend or for a new trial.      It
    should not be necessary for this Court to explain to either counsel
    on appeal or Harold, an attorney admitted to the practice of law in
    Montana, that factual matter is not "evidence of record" merely
    because it is referenced in a motion.     Factual matter is "evidence
    of record" when testimony or other evidence establishing the fact
    has been admitted in evidence during a trial or hearing. A party's
    mere reference to factual matters in a motion neither renders such
    matters "evidence" nor incorporates it as "evidence" into the
    record.   See 
    Johnson, 894 P.2d at 273
    .
    Harold also asserts that a hearing was held on his motion and
    that he was sworn and testified briefly at that hearing.          The
    record before us contains a notice of hearing of Harold's motion,
    scheduled for March 5, 1996. The record on appeal does not contain
    a transcript of such a hearing and, as a result, we are unable to
    ascertain whether, or the extent to which, Harold testified as to
    the nonrecord matters asserted in his opening brief on appeal.   In
    addition, we observe that Harold does not represent to this Court
    that he testified at the postjudgment hearing as to all or any of
    the nonrecord factual matter contained in his brief.   While Harold
    offers, in his reply brief, to supplement the record by providing
    a transcript of the postjudgment hearing, Rule 9 (a), M.R.App.P.,
    requires the party seeking review to provide a record sufficient to
    enable this Court to determine the issues raised on appeal. We are
    not inclined to permit a party to "piecemeal" the record on appeal,
    in derogation of its Rule 9 (a) duty and associated time limits
    contained in Rules 9(b) and 10(a), M.R.App.P., in order to respond
    to an opposing party's legitimate challenge to nonrecord matters.
    Furthermore, we observe that this dissolution proceeding
    commenced on March 3 , 1995. A hearing was held on the question of
    temporary maintenance in May and June of 1995.     The dissolution
    hearing itself occurred over two days in August and October of
    1995.      Thus, all of Harold's evidence should have been--and
    presumably was--presented prior to the time the District Court
    entered its findings of fact, conclusions of law and decree on
    December 15, 1995, and its judgment on December 20, 1995.     As a
    general rule, a party cannot advance additional evidence in support
    of its position after the trial court has determined all pending
    matters.
    Finally, in this regard, Harold contends that "much of the
    matter objected to was considered argument on the various findings
    and conclusions" of the District Court and apologizes to this Court
    for any error in the presentation of such matters in his opening
    brief. Both counsel and Harold should have been aware, long before
    this case, of the difference between proper argument based on
    evidence of record and argument based on so-called "facts" not of
    record.       While we accept the apology and the assertion that no
    disrespect to this Court was intended, we caution both counsel and
    Harold that the type of practice represented by the nonrecord
    factual matter in Harold's opening brief is not acceptable to this
    Court.
    We turn now to the merits of Harold's argument that the
    District Court ignored his inability to pay maintenance and, as a
    result, did not properly apply       §   40-4-203(2)(f), MCA.   As stated
    above,    §   40-4-203(2), MCA, sets forth six specific factors which
    must be considered by a district court in determining the amount
    and duration of maintenance once it has determined that a spouse is
    entitled to maintenance under    §   40-4-203(1),MCA.   It is clear from
    both the statutory language and our cases that, while all the
    factors must be considered, none is determinative.          See    §   40-4-
    203(2), MCA; In re Marriage of Cole (1988), 
    234 Mont. 352
    , 358, 
    763 P.2d 39
    , 4 3 .    It is equally clear, however, that a district court
    ordinarily may not award maintenance in such amounts as will render
    it impossible, on the facts of the case, for the paying spouse to
    meet his own needs and also pay the maintenance ordered.               See,
    e q ,In re Marriage of Tow (l987), 
    229 Mont. 483
    , 4 8 9 ,
    ..                                                               748 P . 2 d
    440, 443; In re Marriage of Keel (198G), 
    223 Mont. 305
    , 309, 726
    
    726 P.2d 812
    , 814. Harold contends that the District Court did so
    here.    We disagree.
    The court made extensive findings, both in its order awarding
    temporary maintenance and in its later findings, conclusions and
    decree with regard to Harold's ability to pay maintenance.      The
    District Court found that Harold has Social Security income of
    approximately $860 per month and that he took an average of about
    $570 per month in cash from his checking account, which is a
    combined office and personal account, over the year and a half from
    mid-December of 1993 until mid-July of 1995. While no explanation
    was offered for where those monies had gone, they can be fairly
    attributed to personal expenditures by Harold. These findings are
    not challenged by Harold and, having scrutinized the record, we
    conclude that they are supported by substantial evidence.
    The District Court also made a number of findings relating to
    expenditures by Harold.    For example, it found that Harold had run
    approximately $300,000 in proceeds from a land sale through his
    checking account in recent years, that only $97,000 remained of
    that amount and that no explanation was offered for where the
    expenditures had gone. The court expressed alarm over this failure
    to account for large sums.
    In this regard, Harold contends that the court overlooked an
    exhibit which details the disposition of the $100,000 down payment
    on the land sale.    We observe that the exhibit does reflect that,
    after closing costs and payment by IIarold of certain taxes and
    other debts, approximately $47,000 remained of the down payment as
    of January 24, 1994; nothing on the exhibit relates to, or accounts
    in any manner for, the approximately $200,000 in additional land
    sale payments received by Harold in 1994 and 1995.
    Harold also argues that he testified repeatedly that the
    purpose of the land sale was to have sufficient funds to "settle
    up" with Sylvia and to continue to pay court costs and other costs
    of suit in several ongoing cases in which he is engaged as counsel.
    Whatever the purpose of the sale, however, it does not constitute
    an accounting for the large sums of money to which the District
    Court's findings related.
    The court also discussed at some length, in both its order on
    temporary maintenance and its findings, conclusions and decree, the
    state of Harold's law practice and his reliance--in contending that
    he is unable to pay maintenance--on the fact that he had been
    losing between $2,500 and $3,000 per month in the practice through
    the first ten months of 1995.   In pertinent part, the court found
    that the staff expenses and client advances Harold continued to pay
    were substantiated, but unreasonable under the circumstances, and
    that they amounted to choices to continue to lose money which could
    not be used as a basis for avoiding the ability to pay maintenance.
    "Reasonableness" is a question of fact      (see In re Marriage of
    Bryant (l996), 
    276 Mont. 317
    , 323, 
    916 P.2d 115
    , 119) and Harold
    cites to no case, and we know of none, where we have required a
    trial court to accept, for purposes of determining ability to pay
    maintenance, whatever numbers a self-employed person advances
    insofar as they relate to ability to pay.
    Harold points to his testimony at the final hearing in
    contending that the amount of monthly loss in the practice had
    decreased by that time because another lawyer was sharing the staff
    expenses; he contends, as a result, that the District Court's
    finding that he was losing $3,000 per month is not supported by
    substantial evidence.        Harold is technically correct in this
    regard, in that the District Court incorporated the cited amount
    from its earlier findings on temporary maintenance without taking
    note of Harold's later testimony that his staff expenses had
    decreased. At best, however, this is harmless--and not reversible-
    -error since taking the decrease in losses into account would have
    bettered, rather than worsened, Harold's financial picture with
    regard to ability to pay maintenance. Moreover, Harold's testimony
    actually buttresses the District Court's finding that it was not
    reasonable for Harold to incur all of the practice-related losses
    to which he had testified, at least insofar as such losses impacted
    on his ability to pay maintenance.
    The District Court also found that approximately $78,000 in
    accounts receivable were due the law practice.              Substantial
    evidence of record supports this finding.         Indeed, a listing of
    accounts   receivable   as    of   July   27,   1995,   indicated   total
    receivables (not including costs advanced to clients and subject to
    repayment) of   approximately      $120,000; the    list, prepared    at
    Harold's direction, categorized       approximately     $40,000 of    the
    receivables as uncollectible or highly doubtful. The court clearly
    based its finding regarding the amount of receivables on Harold's
    opinion--reflected on the listing--as to collectible amounts and,
    in doing so, also accepted Harold's testimony that--as a general
    rule--only 60% to 70% of total receivables ultimately would be
    collected.
    Harold argues that even the collectible amounts are paid in
    such small amounts over such long periods that they have little
    economic effect. He cites to no record evidence in support of this
    generalization and his own testimony at the final hearing was that
    he had received about $6,100 of the receivables in the three months
    since the exhibit had been prepared.      This testimony does not
    support Harold's "little economic effect" generalization and,
    indeed, provides further support for the court's determination that
    Harold was able to pay maintenance.
    The District Court also found that Harold has outstanding
    advanced costs of approximately $25,000.    This finding is fully
    supported by the record.    Harold argues that "one does well to
    recover one-half the costs advanced." While this may be true, it
    is not supported by any evidence of record.     In any event, the
    court's finding was related to the question of Harold's overall
    financial picture at the law practice, and his decisions about how
    to spend available funds, with regard to his ability to pay
    maintenance.   We observe in this regard that Harold testified that
    most of his time and effort is directed toward several contingent
    fee cases and that those cases account for both the short-term
    losses in the practice and the large amount of advanced costs. We
    also observe, however, that Harold's amended proposed findings and
    conclusions in the District Court stated that his law practice was
    losing substantial amounts because he was devoting much time and
    money to some contingent fee cases which "do not appear very
    hopeful at this time."      Again, this proposed finding merely
    buttresses the District Court's concerns and findings about how
    Harold expends his available resources insofar as those decisions
    relate to his ability to pay maintenance.
    We conclude that the District Court clearly, and extensively,
    considered Harold's ability to pay maintenance and, therefore, that
    Harold's argument to the contrary is without merit.     We further
    conclude that the District Court's findings with regard to Harold's
    ability to pay maintenance are supported by substantial evidence
    and are not otherwise clearly erroneous.
    3.   Is Sylvia entitled to attorney fees on appeal?
    As discussed at length above, the District Court correctly
    determined that Sylvia was entitled to maintenance because she is
    not employed or employable and lacks sufficient property to provide
    for her reasonable needs. The court also concluded that Harold and
    Sylvia should pay their own attorney fees.
    Sylvia requests attorney fees on appeal on two grounds.
    First, she contends that we should award her the attorney fees she
    incurred in responding to the matters improperly included in
    Harold's brief as a sanction; and second, she argues that we should
    award her attorney fees in defending Harold's appeal pursuant to In
    re Marriage of Cole (1988), 
    234 Mont. 352
    , 7 6 
    3 P.2d 39
    .
    With regard to the request for attorney fees incurred in
    responding to matters improperly included in Harold's brief as    a
    sanction, Sylvia cites to no authority under which a sanction of
    this type has been awarded based on counsel's inclusion of
    nonrecord matters in a brief and the corresponding need for a
    relatively limited motion to strike.     Moreover, while Rule 3 2 ,
    M.R.App.P.,authorizes an award of damages as a sanction on appeal
    in certain circumstances, Sylvia does not rely on that Rule and we
    have applied it sparingly.      We decline to do so under the
    circumstances presently before us.
    With regard to an award of attorney fees on appeal under
    Marriage of Cole, it is true that we awarded such fees pursuant to
    1 40-4-110, MCA, in that case. Marriaae of 
    Cole, 763 P.2d at 43
    .
    We have been unable to locate any other cases specifically awarding
    attorney fees on appeal under the referenced statute.    Moreover,
    our decision in Marriaae of Cole is not clear with regard to the
    necessity for such fees; that is, the opinion does not state
    whether the wife had been awarded attorney fees at the district
    court level under 5 40-4-110,MCA.    Our cases are legion that the
    first criterion for a discretionary award of fees under the statute
    is a showing of necessity.   &g,   a, re
    In         Marriage of Barnard
    (1990), 
    241 Mont. 147
    , 154, 
    785 P.2d 1387
    , 1391.
    Here, Sylvia contends that the District Court's award of
    maintenance constitutes a sufficient showing of need to support an
    award of attorney fees by this Court on appeal.        We observe,
    however, that the District Court determined that Sylvia would have
    sufficient property to pay her attorney fees and denied her request
    for those fees under 5 40-4-110, MCA.         Thus, it is clear that the
    District Court concluded that Sylvia had not made the required
    showing of necessity for attorney fees.           Sylvia did not cross-
    appeal on that issue and, as a result, we cannot conclude here that
    the record establishes the necessity on which an award of attorney
    fees under 5 40-4-110, MCA, must be premised.           Furthermore, the
    propriety of a maintenance award to substantially equalize Sylvia's
    income   and   expenses   on   an   ongoing   monthly   basis   does   not
    necessarily equate to necessity for attorney fees. As the District
    Court stated, Sylvia has "a pretty good amount of money set aside"
    now that she has been able to add her $109,250 share of the marital
    home and land to her previous cash assets of approximately $65,000.
    We conclude that Sylvia is not entitled to an award of
    attorney fees on appeal on either of the bases she asserts.
    Af firmed
    We concur:           1
    March 13, 1997
    CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
    I hereby certify that the following certified order was sent by United States mail, prepaid, to the
    following named:
    Gene A. Picotte
    Attorney at Law
    1066 Helena Ave.
    Helena, MT 59601
    James P. Reynolds
    Reynolds, Mot1 and Shenvood
    401 No. Last Chance Gulch
    Helena, MT 59601
    ED SMITH
    CLERK OF THE SUPPREME COURT
    STATE OF MONTANA