Opinion ID: 1184045
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: division and distribution of property

Text: The division and distribution of property between spouses following a divorce is discretionary with the trial court, and unless the trial court abuses its discretion, its decision will not be overturned. Crow v. Crow, 49 Haw. 258, 262, 263, 414 P.2d 82, 85. Of course, each case must be decided upon its own facts and circumstances. In dividing property, the trial court must consider the factors set out in R.L.H. 1955, Sec. 324-37, the applicable portion of which reads as follows: Upon granting a divorce the judge may make such further decree or order against the defendant, compelling him to provide for the maintenance of the children of the marriage, to provide such suitable allowance for the wife, for her support, and to finally divide and distribute the estate, real, personal, or mixed, whether community, joint, or separate, in such proportion as shall appear just and equitable, having regard to the respective merits of the parties, to the ability of the husband, to the condition in which they will be left by such divorce, to the burdens imposed upon it for the benefit of the children of such marriage, and all other circumstances of the case ;   . (Emphasis added.) At the conclusion of the hearing in the trial court on the wife's motion to reconsider its decision, the court stated: I certainly did not feel sorry for Mrs. Carson, but that wasn't the basis of my ruling, Mr. Jung. It was simply that the bulk of the husband's property was acquired prior to this marriage, and I felt it would be grossly inequitable to make the distribution of this man's property after this fairly short marriage, and that's why the Court did not do it, and because of the straining of the evidence in order to grant her an absolute divorce, I awarded her a monthly allowance of $400 for [three] years to get her adjusted. It is purely a matter of equity in my ruling, and of course the California real estate holding was something that had a family background of some Aunt losing the property, and Carson used his financial resources to purchase. I just couldn't see distributing that property. I don't want to hold that simply because the property was acquired before marriage [it] is not necessar[ily] distributable to the parties at the end of the marriage but from these facts as I have weighed [them] I felt that she should not participate in this man's holding. There is nothing further presented in the record which would show the reasons on which the trial court based its decision. From the above statement, it is clear that the trial court neglected to consider fully and properly all of the factors set out in Sec. 324-37. The trial court's statement concerning the acquisition of property before marriage is contradictory. The trial court stated that [i]t was simply that the bulk of the husband's property was acquired prior to this marriage, but then contradicted itself with the statement, I don't want to hold that simply because property was acquired before marriage [it] is not necessar[ily] distributable to the parties at the end of the marriage   . The trial court's statements that the bulk of the husband's property was acquired prior to the marriage, and that the husband also used his financial resources to purchase property in California indicates that the trial court placed undue emphasis on the fact that it was separate property, excluding the consideration of the other factors stated in Sec. 324-37. The fact that it was separate property or labeled as such is relevant but not determinative. Under Sec. 324-37, the division and distribution of all property, including separate property, must be just and equitable. Of course, we do not conclude that separate property must be divided and distributed in every divorce case. We simply hold that Sec. 324-37 specifies many factors to be considered in determining what distribution is just and equitable, and that undue emphasis on a particular factor is an abuse of discretion. To aid the trial court in remand, we set out the factors that should be considered in connection with Sec. 324-37: