Court Opinion

ID: 9514590
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:50:36.61766+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:19.124386
License: Public Domain

AMUNDSON, Justice
(dissenting).
[¶ 24.] I dissent from the automatic inclusion of the income available from capital gains, which was derived from the sale of an asset awarded to the father as part of the property division in the divorce. Further, a child support increase should not be automatically granted, but is instead based on “the actual needs and standard of living of the child.” See Ochs v. Nelson, 538 N.W.2d 527, 532 (S.D.1995) (Amundson, J., dissenting) (emphasis in original).
[¶ 25.] The appellant succinctly set forth why capital gains should not be included:
Under the facts of this case, the transaction resulted in no more than a change in form of the asset. Unproductive land valued at approximately $700,000 (Peter’s share) was sold and, except for taxes, reinvested in a form that produces tens of thousands of dollars in annual income available for support purposes. Had it been traded in kind, under the IRS rules, there would have been no recognizable gain. In that case there would be no issue at all, even though the holding would have been disposed of in its entirety. Again, treating the sale proceeds, rather than the interest generated from those reinvested proceeds, as income, does nothing more than diminish Peter’s property division in favor of Laurie.
[¶ 26.] The record reflects that prior to the sale of the inherited property, father put away money for the children’s college education, helped them to purchase vehi-*185cíes and provided funds to the children over that which had been ordered. Courts should not operate with the mentality of the federal legislature, “if the money is there, spend it.” We still require a showing of need. In this case, there has been no such showing.