Opinion ID: 2222186
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: 4-year limitation

Text: Judy asserts in her cross-appeal that the settlement agreement was not ambiguous and that the proper interpretation of the agreement precludes the court from reading a 4-year post high school education limitation into it. In order to assess this assignment of error, we must first address the finding of the district court that paragraph B4 of the agreement was ambiguous. This paragraph (and its identical language in the dissolution decree) reads: In the event, any of said children shall elect to pursue further education after graduation from high school, including college or vocational training, the husband agrees to be responsible for one-half of such expenses for each child, including tuition, books, and room and board. A contract is ambiguous when a word, phrase, or provision in the contract has, or is susceptible of, at least two reasonable but conflicting interpretations or meanings. Guerrier v. Mid-Century Ins. Co., 266 Neb. 150, 663 N.W.2d 131 (2003). Whether a contract is ambiguous and therefore in need of construction is a question of law. Tighe v. Combined Ins. Co. of America, 261 Neb. 993, 628 N.W.2d 670 (2001). On a question of law, an appellate court is obligated to reach a conclusion independent of the determination reached by the court below. K N Energy v. Village of Ansley, 266 Neb. 164, 663 N.W.2d 119 (2003). When the terms of a contract are clear, a court may not resort to rules of construction, and terms are accorded their plain and ordinary meaning as an ordinary or reasonable person would understand them. In such a case, a court shall seek to ascertain the intention of the parties from the plain language of the contract. Reichert v. Rubloff Hammond, L.L.C., 264 Neb. 16, 645 N.W.2d 519 (2002). The language of the agreement does not set out any explicit duration limitation for the educational expenses assistance. However, we must determine whether this paragraph is susceptible of incompatible but reasonable interpretations regarding the presence or absence of durational limits. We find that the phrase further education after graduation from high school, including college or vocational training, unambiguously means education up to the attainment of a 4-year bachelor's degree. Other jurisdictions that have considered the scope of the term college similarly have concluded that it unambiguously means an `undergraduate' school... having a course of study commonly requiring four years for completion and leading to a bachelor's degree. Matter of Kelly, 285 N.Y. 139, 142, 33 N.E.2d 62, 63 (1941). See, also, e.g., Barnard v. Barnard, 214 Conn. 99, 570 A.2d 690 (1990); In re Marriage of Holderrieth, 181 111. App.3d 199, 203-04, 536 N.E.2d 946, 949-50, 129 Ill.Dec. 896, 899-900 (1989) (stating that the term `college or professional'... is sufficiently unambiguous ... [and that] college refers to undergraduate study in the liberal arts or sciences leading, usually after four years, to a bachelor's degree). In a case cited frequently for its holding that college, commonly understood, refers to undergraduate education, the court was called upon to decide whether a will which provided for contribution `toward the expense of a college education ... until [the devisee] completes his college education' included a contribution toward a postgraduate medical education. Epstein v. Kuvin, 25 N.J.Super. 210, 211, 95 A.2d 753 (1953). After concluding that the meaning commonly attached to the term, `a college education,' [is] a four-year course [which] leads to a bachelor's degree in liberal arts or science, or to an engineering degree, the court explained its holding: We are aware, of course, of many variations in the scheme and in the use of the word college. Yet we believe that the great majority of people, when they say that this member of the family or that acquaintance had a college education or has a college degree, mean that he has taken a regular course of study on the undergraduate level that is open to students coming directly from high school; and that he has been awarded the bachelor's degree to which the course leads, and so completed his college education. Id. at 213-14, 95 A.2d at 754. We adopt the same commonsense, plain meaning approach that several other courts have employed. The term college, as used in this context, can only mean an undergraduate institution having a course of study commonly requiring 4 years for completion and leading to a bachelor's degree. Even though a growing number of young adults are extending their college careers to 5 years and beyond, the common and accepted course of study leading to a bachelor's degree remains at 4 years. The district court did not err as a matter of law in construing the settlement agreement to include a maximum of 4 years' post high school education. Michael and Judy are each obligated by the plain meaning of the settlement agreement and the divorce decree to supply one-half of the costs of tuition, books, and on-campus room and board for each of their children's post high school education in pursuit of vocational training or a 4-year bachelor's degree.