Opinion ID: 1366476
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: spousal support and division of property

Text: Patricia next contends that the trial court's award of spousal support was inadequate to meet her needs. She argues that if the court believed Joseph could not afford larger payments, it should have awarded her a greater share of the marital assets instead of dividing the assets equally. In an action for divorce, the trial court is vested with broad discretion to award spousal support as may be just and necessary. AS 25.24.160(a)(2). We will not set aside a spousal support award unless the trial court abuses its discretion. Jones v. Jones, 835 P.2d 1173, 1178 (Alaska 1992). The trial court is similarly vested with broad discretion to order that marital property be divided in a just manner. AS 25.24.160(a)(4). We will not reverse a trial court's decision allocating property unless the court abuses its discretion and the award is clearly unjust. Jones, 835 P.2d at 1175. Although the factors trial courts consider in determining whether to award spousal support are essentially identical to those considered in deciding the allocation of marital property, Dixon, 747 P.2d at 1173, spousal support and property-division serve distinct purposes and are not interchangeable. See Lewis v. Lewis, 785 P.2d 550, 553-54 (Alaska 1990). We have announced a policy of encouraging trial courts to provide for parties' financial needs by property disposition, rather than by alimony. Dixon, 747 P.2d at 1173 (citations omitted), see also Schanck, 717 P.2d at 5. Permanent awards of spousal support are particularly disfavored, because it is generally undesirable to require one person to support another on a long-term basis in the absence of an existing legal relationship. Jones, 835 P.2d at 1179. In a limited number of situations, however, we have recognized that spousal support may properly be substituted for property division as a means of redressing inequalities in earning power. See, e.g., Bays, 807 P.2d at 485 (policy favoring property division over spousal support inapplicable to rehabilitative spousal support and other forms of short-term spousal support), Dixon, 747 P.2d at 1173 (policy inapplicable when marital assets fail to meet the needs of a divorcing spouse). Nevertheless, in such cases we have consistently emphasized that specific evidence must be presented to establish the need for spousal support and specific findings must be made reflecting the trial court's reasons for concluding that the amount of spousal support ordered was just and necessary. Id. at 1174. As we previously observed: In the absence of specific findings concerning [the recipient's] financial needs, we are unable to evaluate whether ... alimony is just and necessary. Jones, 835 P.2d at 1179, see also Lewis, 785 P.2d at 554 (Without an explanation, this court cannot determine whether the trial court abused its discretion). In the present case, the record indicates that the trial court found Patricia's earning power to be lower than Joseph's. Despite the availability of substantial marital assets, the court attempted to remedy the inequality not through property division but by ordering Joseph to make substantial and relatively long-term spousal support payments. Yet the court made no findings to explain its reasons for preferring spousal support over distribution of marital property, nor did it reveal the manner in which it determined the amount of spousal support it ordered Joseph to pay. Moreover, while the court's findings generally touched on many of the Merrill factors, [4] they did not expressly address the circumstances and necessities of the parties, Merrill, 368 P.2d at 547 n. 4, and failed to resolve the issues raised at trial concerning Patricia's earning capacity and her financial needs and expenses. See Jones, 835 P.2d at 1179. These omissions are especially troubling because sharply conflicting evidence was presented at trial on the extent to which Patricia's earning capacity was impaired by her medical condition. To permit meaningful appellate review, the trial court must provide sufficiently detailed and explicit findings `to give [this] court a clear understanding of the basis of the trial court's decision, and to enable it to determine the ground on which the trial court reached its decision.' Lang v. Lang, 741 P.2d 1193, 1195 (Alaska 1987) (quoting Merrill, 368 P.2d at 548). Because the trial court did not explain its reasons for preferring spousal support over property distribution, failed to disclose the basis for the amount of spousal support it awarded, and made no specific findings determining the earning power and financial needs of the parties, it is not possible for us to determine whether the court abused its discretion in this case. Accordingly, we must remand this case for additional findings on these issues. [5]