Court Opinion

ID: 9852048
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 05:23:40.173097+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:22:21.536391
License: Public Domain

VOGEL, Justice,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in the remand to the district court and in parts of the opinion. With other parts of it, however, I cannot agree.
I
I approve of the majority’s recognition that the wife is entitled to approximately half of the assets of the marital partnership. I cannot agree that her share can be given to her only as property division.
I have said before that one of the assets of any marriage may be the earning ability of one spouse, created in part by the contributions of the other during marriage. Those contributions may be made as a homemaker or otherwise. See dissent in Hegge v. Hegge, 236 N.W.2d 910 (N.D.1975), and Haugeberg v. Haugeberg, 258 N.W.2d 657 (N.D.1977). In the case before us, the wife was not only a homemaker, but also the bookkeeper and in charge of the finances of the marital partnership during the earlier years of the marriage while the *494husband’s earning ability was built up. The majority should recognize the wife’s contribution toward the creation of that earning ability.
This is not a novel proposition. See cases cited in Hegge and Haugeberg dissents, supra, and in Colley v. Colley, 460 S.W.2d 821 (Ky.1970). A monograph by Doris Jonas Freed and Henry H. Foster, Jr., “Family Law in the Fifty States: An Overview,” Fam.L.Rep. (BNA), Vol. 3, No. 43, September 6, 1977, 3 FLR 4047 at 4040, lists these 14 States which specifically give recognition to the role of a spouse as homemaker, parent, or contributor to the career of the other as a contribution to the assets of a marriage: Colorado, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
II
The earning ability of the parties is one of the Ruff-Fiseher guidelines which we say we consider in every case. Ruff v. Ruff, 78 N.D. 775, 52 N.W.2d 107 (1952); Fischer v. Fischer, 139 N.W.2d 845 (N.D.1966).
Calling “earning ability” by a new name, such as “good will” or “entrepreneurial skills,” does not alter the facts.
In my opinion, the earning ability of the husband (or wife) is an asset of the marriage and should be considered in making property division and alimony determinations. If the majority means to say that earning ability may be considered only in granting alimony, and not in making property division, it is creating an unjustified complication of a subject already too complex.
III
I also dissent from the direction to the trial court that “conduct of the parties” should be considered upon remand. Both parties in this case asked for a divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences, and the divorce was granted on that ground. This being so, I believe that the conduct of the parties is irrelevant to the granting of the divorce and to the questions of property division and alimony. See my dissent in Hultberg v. Hultberg, 259 N.W.2d 41 (N.D.1977), and see In re Marriage of Williams, 199 N.W.2d 339 (Iowa 1972), which discusses in depth the case law and scholarly articles on the question of whether fault is to be considered in division of property and alimony in cases where a divorce is granted on no-fault grounds, and concludes that fault should not be considered. And see monograph cited above which lists 11 States which expressly or impliedly exclude marital fault from consideration in awarding alimony or distributing property, and 12 States which regard marital fault as a discretionary factor which may be (but need not be) considered. Since some States probably have not ruled on the matter, I assume we are now in the minority.
IV
For reasons which I have stated more fully in a dissent filed today in Becker v. Becker, 262 N.W.2d 478 (N.D.1977), I believe we have the statutory authority under Section 14-05-24, N.D.C.C., to modify property division in divorce cases after judgment is entered, just as we have authority to subsequently modify alimony and child-support provisions. The language of Section 14-05-24 is identical as to all three subjects, and judgments as to all three “may be modified from time to time.”
I concede that we have a line of cases in this State holding to the contrary, as to property division only, starting with Sinkler v. Sinkler, 49 N.D. 1144, 194 N.W. 817 (1923). However, subsequent events have illustrated how difficult it is to follow that rule.
In Hoster v. Hoster, 216 N.W.2d 698 (N.D.1974), the parties entered into a “property settlement agreement” which included provisions for child support and alimony and custody. We approved changes as to alimony and child support in spite of the fact that the agreement was called a “property settlement agreement.” In Thompson v. Thompson, 554 P.2d 1111 (Mont.1976), it was held that house payments are not ali*495mony, but instead are part of a property settlement, and in Jones v. Flasted, 544 P.2d 1231 (Mont.1976), it was held that a “property settlement” was really alimony.
In Lawrence v. Lawrence, 217 N.W.2d 792, 794 (N.D.1974), the judgment ordered payment of $90,000 at the rate of $500 per month, as “further property settlement, and not as alimony.” Many lawyers use the terms “property settlement” and “alimony” interchangeably, especially in contexts involving lump-sums payments or payments of fixed sums in installments. Such payments may be property settlements, or alimony, or a mixture of both. How can we tell them apart? If labels govern, will it be malpractice for a lawyer to draft a settlement agreement which provides for no alimony, thereby making it impossible to obtain any in later years regardless of circumstances? [See Becker v. Becker, supra.] Will it be reversible error for a trial judge to make findings of fact, conclusions of law, and orders for judgment which do not mention alimony and thereby preclude future alimony? [See Gagliano v. Gagliano, 215 Va. 447, 211 S.E.2d 62 (1975).] Will it be reversible error for a judge to call monthly payments “property division,” as in Lawrence v. Lawrence, supra, and thereby preclude subsequent modification?
I would prefer to reverse the flat prohibition against modification of property awards and hold, in compliance with the plain language of Section 14-05-24, N.D. C.C., that property divisions, as well as alimony and child-support provisions in judgments, are subject to modification for changed circumstances at any time.