Opinion ID: 2625856
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Equitable Division of Marital Estate

Text: [¶ 19] The husband contends he facilitated the wife's efforts to obtain her medical degree by supporting her while she went to medical school, at the expense of his own career, which allowed her to ultimately earn substantially more money than he was earning. He described accepting lateral transfers instead of promotions in order to remain close to the wife and support her and their family during her schooling. He claimed he was the primary financial support and caretaker for the family during this time and he gave up attending law school because the parties could not marry and pursue both careers at the same time. The husband claims his deference to the wife's career resulted in her earning approximately $143,500 annually while he was earning approximately $57,450 annually from his federal employment ($44,450) and his part-time employment with the pathology business ($13,000). On this basis, he argues the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to consider awarding him more than half of the marital assets to offset the sacrifices he made and the corresponding detrimental impact to his earning capacity. [¶ 20] Pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-114 (LexisNexis 2001): [T]he court shall make such disposition of the property of the parties as appears just and equitable, having regard for the respective merits of the parties and the condition in which they will be left by the divorce, the party through whom the property was acquired and the burdens imposed upon the property for the benefit of either party and children. The decision letter dispels the husband's accusation the court arbitrarily refused to consider his argument and instead reflects the court carefully considered his position and sets out the explicit reasons why the court concluded the facts did not support an increase in the proportion of the property awarded to the husband: [The husband] is not entitled to any reimbursement for career changes and adjustments. These are the compromises which are made by virtually every party to a marriage. [The wife] could just as well claim that she would have entered a more lucrative specialty if she had been single. [The husband] does not cite any law which allows a party to receive compensation for what he or she might have been able to earn as a single person. [The husband] is not entitled to reimbursement for [the wife] having obtained a medical degree during the marriage. This is not a case where [the wife] filed for divorce shortly after graduation and left [the husband] without significant income or assets. Both parties had college degrees at marriage. [The husband] has a good job. Both benefitted from [the wife's] medical degree. [The husband] received compensation as an employee of the pathology business. They have accumulated a substantial amount of property. [¶ 21] We have long recognized the trial court possesses a great amount of discretion in dividing marital property. Hall, 2002 WY 30, ¶ 14, 40 P.3d 1228. Just and equitable division of property is just as likely not to be equal. Id.; Carlton v. Carlton, 997 P.2d 1028, 1032 (Wyo.2000). The trial court should consider all facts and circumstances surrounding the dissolution of the marriage in dividing a couple's marital assets. Hall, 2002 WY 30, ¶ 14, 40 P.3d 1228; Carlton, 997 P.2d at 1034. [¶ 22] In this case, the trial court attempted to split the marital assets as equally as possible and ordered payments be made between the parties to balance the awards when the actual value of a hard asset granted to one party was disparate from the value of a similar asset granted to the other. By way of example, the trial court awarded the marital home to the wife and awarded a residence of lower value to the husband. However, it ordered the wife to pay the husband the $71,465 difference between the values of the two homes. [¶ 23] The trial court was not persuaded that the husband's support for the wife's education made a significant difference in the equities and concluded the circumstances were not similar to the Grosskopf v. Grosskopf, 677 P.2d 814 (Wyo.1984), case where a husband, who had been supported financially by the wife in pursuit of his professional education, filed for divorce immediately after graduation. In this case, the evidence showed both parties assisted in supporting the family during the medical school years, and the trial court found, in the years since the wife graduated from medical school, the husband benefited equally from the income she earned as a result of her medical degree. [¶ 24] We decline to micromanage the disposition of marital property by the trial courts. Suffice it to say, it is clear the trial court in this case tried to divide the marital property in half by awarding assets and cash of $331,822 to the husband and $321,897 to the wife. We are unable to identify any manifest abuse of discretion in the division of this marital estate. Carlton, 997 P.2d at 1032.