Court Opinion

ID: 9673344
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:10:25.794001+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:27:30.641174
License: Public Domain

Krivosha, C. J.,
concurring in part, and in part dissenting.
I concur with the majority in all respects except with its finding that the division of property should be modified. To that extent I must respectfully dissent. I do so because I believe that the law as set out by the majority herein and the evidence as presented by Mrs. Grace cannot support the action taken by the majority with regard to the awarding of additional property. The majority concedes that our holding in Van Newkirk v. Van Newkirk, 212 Neb. 730, 325 N.W.2d 832 (1982), is that property acquired by one of the parties through gift or inheritance ordinarily is set off to the individual receiving the inheritance or gift and is not considered a part of the marital estate. The majority further concedes that there is no evidence in the instant case to bring this property within any exception noted in Van Newkirk. Nevertheless, the majority then suggests that the Van Newkirk rule does not purport to be an ironclad, rigid rule for all circumstances. In doing so the majority gives us no indication as to how or under what circumstances this new exception to Van Newkirk should be employed. The majority relies upon our holding in Matlock v. Matlock, 205 Neb. 357, 287 N.W.2d 690 (1980), as the basis for its holding herein. The facts, however, in the Matlock case disclose that during the marriage Mrs. Matlock was continuously employed, earning gross wages of approximately $19,000 per year, all of which went into the family income. There is no such evidence in the instant case.
In modifying the decree regarding the division of property, the majority, in the instant case, determines that the stock held by Mr. Grace in the Grace Land and Cattle Company should be considered in determining the division of property. A further problem with that determination is that the only evidence with regard to the value of the stock in Grace Land and Cattle *706Company was its value if the entire corporation was dissolved. The majority properly recognizes that a minority interest in a closely held, strictly family corporation is not the same as stock held in a public corporation and acknowledges that the valuation of $1,500,000 would be unreasonably high. Yet, without evidence of any other value, including what the value of the stock is as “an expectancy interest in a large farming and ranching operation,” as characterized by the majority, the majority awards Mrs. Grace the sum of $100,000 as division of property. We are without any indication as to how one should mathematically determine the division of a future interest when no evidence has been offered as to the value of that interest.
While it may very well be that Mrs. Grace is entitled to more alimony than was awarded to her by the district court, it was incumbent upon Mrs. Grace to produce sufficient and appropriate evidence to support her claim. This she did not do. We should not be filling gaps in the evidence, no matter how meritorious such action might seem. For that reason I must respectfully dissent from that portion of the majority decision.