Opinion ID: 900350
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: [¶ 2.] Warren and Norma Pellegrin were married in 1975. Warren was seventy and Norma was sixty-three years old at the time of trial. Warren and Norma both had been previously married and have five and six adult children, respectively. They have no children by this marriage. [¶ 3.] At the time of their marriage, Warren was a graduate of SDSU and a school teacher, earning approximately $7,000 per year. Warren retired from teaching in 1991. In addition to teaching full time, he worked on the ranch at Enning, South Dakota, where the couple came to live within the first years of their marriage. Norma had a high school degree and worked two jobsas a cook at the school and nights as a waitress. Norma also helped out on the ranch, including mowing and raking hay during the summer. Norma eventually acquired a college degree during the marriage and has been employed continuously as a school teacher since 1991. [¶ 4.] Warren and Norma have contrasting states of health. On the one hand, Warren has suffered from poor health. During the past six months, he has suffered from congestive heart failure and also a slight stroke. His poor health condition has caused him to retire from active ranching. On the other hand, Norma enjoys good health. [¶ 5.] The parties each brought assets into the marriage. Warren's notable assets at that time included 560 acres of pasture and cropland, eighteen cows and a pickup. Warren's net worth was reduced by debts of approximately $17,000. Norma owned a trailer home in Wall with an addition added to it, a 1975 Pontiac, and substantial amounts in CD's, savings and checking accounts. [¶ 6.] The ranch operation grew during the marriage. The parties purchased 80 acres of land from Warren's brother and 320 acres of pasture at Marcus (Marcus land), tripled their cattle herd, built buildings and improvements, and planted trees. [¶ 7.] Eventually, the marriage became strained and Warren filed for divorce on grounds of irreconcilable differences along with a request for a division of the parties' property. Norma counterclaimed, seeking divorce on alternative grounds of irreconcilable differences and extreme mental cruelty, and requested a property division as well. Warren stipulated that the decree of divorce could be entered in favor of both parties on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. However, Norma would not give her consent to a divorce on those grounds at the trial before the court on September 26 and 27, 1996. She stated she did not want a divorce, that she was too old to go through one, and that she filed for divorce just to protect herself. After refusing to stipulate to the divorce on grounds of irreconcilable differences at trial, counsel for Norma allowed Warren to lay grounds for an alternative theory for the divorce. Warren then proceeded with evidence in support of a divorce based on extreme cruelty. [¶ 8.] The trial court granted Warren a divorce on grounds of extreme cruelty and denied Norma's counterclaim on the same grounds. The court also found the value of the marital estate to be $222,355, after excluding a premarital allowance of $28,000 for Warren's family ranch [1] and a premarital allowance for the value of a trust of which Norma was a beneficiary. [2] The assets representing the $222,355 were divided by the court into substantially equal shares for each party. Norma brought this appeal raising the following issues: I. Whether Norma established grounds for a divorce on the basis of extreme mental cruelty. II. Whether the trial court's division of property and debts of the marriage was an abuse of discretion.