Opinion ID: 2520443
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Parties' Marriage and Divorce

Text: [¶3] When the wife met the husband, she was unemployed, renting a trailer, on welfare, was not receiving child support, and her possessions consisted of household items and utensils, her children's property, and a car. The husband and wife then lived together in the husband's home for about two years prior to their marriage on July 27, 1995. The husband had a couple children from a previous marriage [1] and the wife had three minor children from a previous relationship. [2] However, no children were born to the husband and wife. [¶4] During her marriage to the husband, the wife testified that she: (1) was employed at least forty hours per week and earned an average wage of $7.00 per hour; (2) performed the housework, cooked, did the laundry, and cared for her children; (3) paid ninety-five percent of the utilities (telephone bill, electric bill, propane bill (although the husband sometimes traded his services for propane)); (4) purchased the groceries and the wood to heat the residence; and (5) made between one and three payments of $158.00 for the husband's tractor loan, when the lender was unable to contact the husband. The wife's parents also often paid the bills for [the husband and wife's] house, utilities, water, lights, propane and clothing because they would be turned off and have to have a deposit before they'd turn them back on and [the husband and wife] had to have a telephone and they had to have heat. [¶5] It further appears from the record that, during the marriage, the husband: (1) was a farrier, raised and cared for horses, and trained race horses in Casper for six weeks over a couple of summers; (2) provided a residence for the wife and her children; and (3) paid the water bill and the insurance for the residence. The wife testified that the husband never declared income for tax purposes (the wife filed an individual return during the marriage), used his income primarily to feed and maintain his horses (as opposed to buying new furniture, for example), did not send money home when he worked in Casper, [3] and did not support her children. [¶6] In 1998, the husband got in [a] bind with the bank regarding the real property on which the aforementioned residence was situated. According to the wife's mother, the property was going to be foreclosed on and . . . [the husband, wife, and the wife's children] would be out in the street within two weeks. The husband trusted the wife's father to help him, and the wife's father made financial arrangements to have this paid off so that they wouldn't be out in the street. The property was apparently quitclaimed to the wife's parents so that they could obtain a loan in order to retire the indebtedness. The wife's mother testified that at the time, she further informed the husband and wife that the property would be returned to them if they would stop their drinking and show that they could make a go of the farm, pay their taxes and their bills and have a family oriented home or it would be a cold day in hell before I gave it back to them. And I gave them six months to do it. [¶7] At some point, a sale of about eight acres of the property was contemplated. That portion of the property was listed with a realtor for seven months and ultimately sold for $70,000.00. All but approximately $43,000.00 of the sale proceeds was used to satisfy the financial obligations incurred by the husband and wife. A lawsuit ensued between the husband and his in-laws regarding the remaining property and the proceeds from the sale of the eight-acre parcel. The lawsuit was apparently settledthe remaining real property (including the residence) was transferred to the husband, [4] and the wife's parents kept the remaining sale proceeds. [5] The husband admitted that the wife and her family got him out of a tight spot, but added that he felt he had paid dearly for it. [¶8] The wife's mother also submitted approximately $22,000.00 in checks issued by the wife's parents between 1996 and 2003 as examples of payments they made directly on behalf of the husband, the wife, and the wife's children. The testimony, and the checks, reflect payments for upkeep of the residence and real property, utilities, propane, the children's doctor bills, property taxes for the husband's property, school expenses, clothing, wife's vehicle license, satellite television, groceries, cash, legal fees on behalf of the wife and her parents, and other items. A good portion of these payments were made from the aforementioned $43,000.00, but some expenditures obviously occurred prior to the existence of those proceeds. [¶9] In October 2001, the wife filed for a divorce due to [i]rreconcilable differences. The wife testified that she was tired of the husband coming home drunk and being abusive and that after the husband had been drinking he would be in a bad mood and want to start yelling, fighting. According to the wife, the husband physically grabbed her more than once during the marriage and after one incident in which the husband pushed [the wife] against the wall and grabbed ahold of [the wife's] neck to choke her in the presence of her youngest child, the wife sought, and received, a restraining order. [6] The wife acknowledged that at one time she had a drinking problem, but she completed rehabilitation and had not had a drink since May 26, 1999. [¶10] The husband alleged that the wife had a relationship with another man, which caused the irreconcilable differences between the husband and wife. The wife testified that she met another man through her employment and visited him at hotels (where he was staying for work purposes) to watch videos. The wife denied that she had an affair with the other man, denied that she ever had intimate relations with the other man, and testified that she and the other man were seeing each other as friends. [¶11] The district court entered a divorce decree in December 2002.