Opinion ID: 1228809
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Spousal support in the present case

Text: We now turn to the application of what we have said above to the specific facts of this case. The parties to this proceeding were married for 23 years and were both in their mid-forties at the time of the dissolution. Both were in good health. Custody of their two children, ages 13 and 16 at the time of the decree, was awarded to the wife. The husband holds a doctorate in economics and is a full professor at the University of Oregon. His net monthly income averages about $1500 a month if he teaches summer school and about $1200 a month if he does not. He is not guaranteed the opportunity to teach summer school and, in fact, he prefers not to do so. He testified that it is important to his career to have his summers free for research and writing. The wife worked full time during the early years of the marriage while the husband obtained his education. For most of the past 15 years she has devoted herself primarily to homemaking activities although she has taken a variety of part-time and temporary jobs during that period. At the time of the decree she was employed full time in a clerical position. Her net monthly income was approximately $320. A vocational expert called by the husband testified that her skills and experience qualified her for employment as an executive secretary at a gross salary of $600 to $800 a month. She testified, however, that her actual experience as a secretary to executives was more than 15 years old and that she had been unable to find a better position than that she held at the time of the decree. She also testified that she does not wish to work as a secretary indefinitely. She outlined to the trial court her plan to obtain a master's degree in business administration, which will require a total of four years of college work and which would enable her, according to her testimony, to earn something over $10,000 a year. The parties, during their marriage, accumulated few assets besides their home, in which they had an equity valued at $12,670 to $15,100 and the husband's equity in his retirement plan, amounting to approximately $13,400. The trial court awarded the home to the wife and the retirement equity to the husband, thus accomplishing an approximately equal division of the accumulated assets in an appropriate manner. The wife was also awarded child support in the amount of $250 a month for each child and spousal support of $150 a month for five years. Upon appeal by the wife, the spousal support award was modified to provide for payments of $200 until death or her remarriage. Judge Johnson dissented on the grounds that the spousal support would be inadequate after the child support payments ended and that the decree should not provide for automatic termination of support payments upon the wife's remarriage. We granted the husband's petition for review. The wife has urged us to adopt the approach suggested by the dissent in the Court of Appeals. In effect, that approach would treat the dissolution of a marriage like the dissolution of a business partnership and would also, in cases like this one, consider the husband's earning capacity, to the development of which both parties contributed, as a joint asset to be allocated between them. The principles we have approved in this opinion will support similar results in many cases. We do not, however, approve the allocation of future earnings on principles applicable to property rights. It is proper to recognize each party's contribution, whether financial or in the form of services, to the economic aspects of the marriage. But it is also important to retain flexibility to deal with the parties as the court finds them at the time of the dissolution. The marital history should not be allowed to overshadow present circumstances. In light of the great disparity between the parties' earning capacities in this case, there are two general approaches by which we might arrive at a spousal support award which would be just and equitable between the parties. The first possibility is to structure the award in such a way that the spousal support payments, together with child support and the wife's present earning capacity, would enable her to enjoy a standard of living not overly disproportionate to that which the husband can maintain for himself. This approach would call for relatively lower spousal support payments during the years when the wife is receiving substantial child support payments and a somewhat higher permanent award in later years after the child support has terminated. The second approach is to award proportionately higher spousal support at the outset so that the wife will not have to work full time to support herself and the children. This will permit her to complete the educational program which she has planned and will permit a somewhat lower level of permanent support later. The wife outlined a four-year plan of schooling which should significantly increase her earning capacity. Under the circumstances of this case, taking into account the expressed legislative policy that favors efforts to reduce the dependence of one spouse on the other over the long run, we hold that the second approach is the preferable one here. While the support payments for both children last, the husband's total support obligation of $700 a month, the level set by the Court of Appeals, is a heavy one. He may well find it necessary to obtain summer employment in order to meet it and still provide comfortably for himself. On the other hand, $700 a month is probably not enough to enable the wife to support herself and two teenage children and to pursue a college education. She will likely find it necessary to work part time in order to carry out her plans. Spousal support during this period in the amount set by the Court of Appeals, $200 a month, presents some hardships for both parties, but we are unable to arrive at a more satisfactory figure. We approve the award of spousal support in the amount of $200 a month until the older child reaches 18. Support payments for the older child will end before the wife has completed the four years of schooling which are necessary to her master's degree program. At that time spousal support should be increased in order to permit her to complete her training. We consider a temporary increase to $300 a month at that time to be appropriate. By the time support payments for the younger child end, the wife will have had time to complete her contemplated schooling and to find a position in her field. At that time spousal support payments should be substantially reduced. Taking into account the wife's predictions of her eventual earning capacity and the fact that she has been awarded the family home (upon which the payments are quite low compared to today's normal housing costs), we believe that permanent spousal support payments of $125 a month will be appropriate. This will not put the parties on an equal footing financially, but will permit both of them some flexibility in their personal financial arrangements. [13] The decree of the circuit court should be modified in accordance with this opinion. Modified and remanded. Costs to neither party.