Opinion ID: 2334646
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Advance distribution

Text: We next review the petitioner's assertion that the trial court erred when it ordered him to pay a $500,000 property advance to the respondent in the event of an appeal. The trial court's order stated that this advance was a further temporary order . . ., the primary purpose of which will be to permit [the respondent] to obtain suitable housing for herself [and the parties' child]. The petitioner challenges this order on two grounds. First, he contends that it violated his constitutional rights to due process. Second, he asserts that the trial court lacked the authority to order him to pay an advance to the respondent absent any concern that, without such an order, he would dissipate assets. We decline to consider the petitioner's constitutional arguments because he has failed to demonstrate that he preserved them for our review. It is a long-standing rule that parties may not have judicial review of matters not raised in the forum of trial. N. Country Envtl. Servs. v. Town of Bethlehem, 150 N.H. 606, 619, 843 A.2d 949 (2004); see also State v. Dellorfano, 128 N.H. 628, 632, 517 A.2d 1163 (1986). As the appealing party, the petitioner has the burden, not only of providing a record sufficient for our review, but also of demonstrating that he raised his issues in the trial court. See Bean v. Red Oak Prop. Mgmt., 151 N.H. 248, 250, 855 A.2d 564 (2004). Here, the petitioner did not raise a constitutional argument in either his motion for reconsideration to the trial court or his later motion to the trial court to stay the final decree pending appeal. Because the petitioner has failed to demonstrate that he raised his due process arguments to the trial court, we decline to review them on appeal. We therefore confine our review to the petitioner's assertion that the court lacked the authority to order him to pay the respondent an advance absent evidence that it was concerned that he would dissipate assets. In In the Matter of Nyhan & Nyhan, 151 N.H. 739, 745-46, 867 A.2d 470 (2005), we upheld a trial court's order requiring the respondent in that divorce case to pay the petitioner $2,600,000 within ten days of the clerk's notice of the trial court's order following remand. In that case, the court ordered the respondent to make this payment to prevent him from further dissipating assets. Nyhan, 151 N.H. at 746, 867 A.2d 470. The petitioner argues, in effect, that Nyhan should be limited to its facts. We disagree. As in Nyhan, we conclude that the trial court's order in this case is in accord with our case law regarding property distributions. Id. at 745, 867 A.2d 470. In Nyhan, we recognized that even when an appeal has been taken, the trial court has the authority and jurisdiction to make such orders and decrees as may be necessary for the protection and preservation of the subject matter of the appeal and to preserve the status quo. Id. (quotations omitted). We further recognized that, in the context of alimony and child support, the trial court is in the best position to assess the parties' circumstances during an appeal and to fashion its order accordingly. Id. at 745-46, 867 A.2d 470. Applying these principles to the unique circumstances present here, we conclude that the trial court did not err by requiring the petitioner to pay the respondent $500,000 in the event of an appeal to permit her to secure suitable housing for her and the parties' child. By requiring the petitioner to pay the respondent this advance, the court was, in effect, preserving the status quo that had been in effect before the petitioner manipulated events to obtain the exclusive use of the marital home and temporary physical custody of the parties' child. The record shows that, in its initial temporary order, the trial court awarded the respondent sole and exclusive use and possession of the former marital homestead. In that order, the court also awarded the respondent primary physical custody of the parties' child. The record further shows that the day after the court issued this temporary order, the petitioner brought an ex parte motion for immediate change of custody. In this motion, the petitioner alleged that the respondent's mental condition had deteriorated to the point that she was unable to care for the parties' son. The record further supports a finding that while the petitioner may have been motivated by genuine concern for his son, as the experts hired by the GAL reported, his ex parte motion also suggested some opportunism on his part. As the GAL noted in her report, she was concerned that at the inception of this case, when . . . a friend of [the respondent's] contacted [the petitioner] about her concerns regarding [the respondent's] mental status, her intentions were to obtain assistance for [the respondent], not to put in motion [the respondent's] loss of custody of [the child]. According to the friend, at the time, [the petitioner] promised that he would never take [the child] from [the respondent] because he did not want custody as he was too busy and . . . [the respondent] was the best mother a boy could have. Nonetheless, he moved ex parte for a change in custody. Based upon the allegations in the petitioner's motion, the court awarded the petitioner temporary physical custody of the parties' son and ordered the respondent to make alternative suitable housing arrangements within 45 days, after which [the petitioner] is awarded temporary use of the parties' homestead. In approximately November 2002, the parties agreed to share physical custody of the child again, although the petitioner was again awarded temporary and exclusive use and possession of the marital home. We conclude that, based upon the above, the trial court reasonably could have decided that the $500,000 advance was necessary to preserve the status quo that had been in effect before the petitioner obtained the exclusive use of the marital home and temporary physical custody of the parties' child.