Title: Lea v. Bowers
Citation: 658 P.2d 1213
Docket Number: 18030
State: Utah
Issuer: Utah Supreme Court
Date: February 16, 1983

658 P.2d 1213 (1983) Joan Sena Bowers LEA, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. Farrell D. BOWERS, Defendant and Respondent. No. 18030. Supreme Court of Utah. February 16, 1983. Noall T. Wootten, American Fork, for plaintiff and appellant. H. Grant Ivins, American Fork, for defendant and respondent. DURHAM, Justice: This is an appeal from a judgment modifying a divorce decree. We reverse because the trial court erred in modifying the divorce decree in the absence of factual finding of a substantial change in circumstances. On April 29, 1974, a default Divorce Decree was entered granting a divorce to the respondent. Paragraph 7 of that decree provided as follows: This provision was entered following the court's approval of a Stipulation and Property Settlement Agreement which had been executed by both parties on March 22, 1974. Paragraph 6 of the Stipulation and Property Settlement Agreement contained the same provision with reference to the home as that set forth in Paragraph 7 of the divorce decree. On March 22, 1974, the respondent executed and delivered to the appellant a quitclaim deed to the home and real property referred to above, which deed was recorded with the Utah County Recorder. On May 13, 1975, the respondent filed with the court a motion to amend the provisions of Paragraph 7 of the divorce decree on the grounds that he was not represented by counsel at the time the stipulation was signed, that the decree itself was ambiguous and should be modified to reflect a clear interpretation of the intent of the parties, and that a modification would be equitable. The respondent's affidavit in support of his motion alleged that at the time he signed the stipulation he was unable to read it due to poor eyesight and not having any reading glasses at that time, and therefore, he had to rely on the appellant to read the document to him. Furthermore, he stated that, had he been advised by counsel at the time he signed the agreement, counsel would have had the stipulation provide that the home be sold on the remarriage of the appellant. On May 23, 1975, the appellant filed a counter-affidavit in which she stated that the respondent was coherent and alert when he signed the stipulation, that she read it to him several times in the kitchen of their home, and that they discussed each paragraph in detail. She said that she asked him if he understood the document and he responded in the affirmative. She further represented that the original stipulation and settlement agreement was understood by both of them and did in fact reflect their agreement, and that when the quitclaim deed was delivered to her by the respondent it was understood that the home would be hers until such time as she decided to sell it. On June 2, 1975, the district court entered the following ruling: No appeal was taken from that ruling. On May 9, 1980, the same issue was again brought before the same judge of the district court by the respondent and, according to the minute entry on file, the court declined to take evidence on this same issue. On June 19, 1981, the matter was brought before the district court for the third time on the same issue and, on September 24, 1981, the court modified the decree of divorce, ordering the home sold, based on the following Finding of Fact: It is from that order that this appeal is taken. On a petition for modification of a divorce decree, the threshold requirement for relief is a showing of substantial change in the circumstances of the parties occurring since the entry of the decree and not contemplated in the decree itself. See Haslam v. Haslam, 657 P.2d 757 (1982); Adams v. Adams, Utah, 593 P.2d 147 (1979). The burden with respect to modifications of divorce decrees based on stipulated settlement agreements, as is the case here, is particularly high. In Land v. Land, Utah, 605 P.2d 1248 (1980), this Court stated: Id. at 1250-51 (citations omitted). The trial court's factual findings respecting the grounds for modification of this decree, as set forth above, do not include either a change of circumstances or a "compelling reason" within the holding of Land v. Land, supra. Therefore, the judgment of the trial court cannot stand and is reversed. No costs awarded. HALL, C.J., and OAKS, J., concur. HOWE, Justice, dissenting: I dissent. I would remand the case to the trial court to supplement the Findings of Fact since implicit in that court's ruling was the conclusion that there had been a material change of circumstances. When the trial court denied the petition of the defendant made on May 9, 1980 to have the home sold and the proceeds divided, it gave the defendant leave to reassert that request "at such time as the last of the minor children no longer resides there with the plaintiff." One year later the defendant, acting pursuant to that leave, again requested the court to order the sale of the home and division of the proceeds, basing the Order to Show Cause solely upon his affidavit that the last minor child of the parties had married and no longer lived in their residence. It is that Order to Show Cause which is before us in this appeal. It was not disputed at the hearing on the Order to Show Cause that there were no minor children then living in the home. Counsel for defendant urged this fact as a material change of circumstances. Although the trial court made no specific finding on that fact in its written Decision, it concluded "that to allow plaintiff the right to hold the home exclusively until such time as she decides to sell the same would not be equitable to defendant in his realizing his acknowledged interest therein." I think implicit in that statement was a finding that because minor children were no longer present in the home, it would be equitable to order the home sold now. As pointed out by the majority opinion, when the Findings of Fact were drawn, nothing was stated specifically therein concerning *1216 the absence of minor children in the home. Neither was it stated that the court found a change of circumstances. The findings only mention the defendant's lack of counsel, his drinking and mistaken belief as to the effect of the stipulation which he signed regarding the house. However, a finding of a change of circumstances is implicit in the court's ruling as explained above. This, in view of the court's denial of the defendant's request at an earlier time when minor children were in the home, would compel me to simply remand the case to the trial court for it to augment its findings in order to reflect its full and complete reasoning and basis for modifying the decree. STEWART, J., concurs in the dissenting opinion of HOWE, J.