Court Opinion

ID: 9514048
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:43:45.017667+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:06:10.457230
License: Public Domain

*89VANDE WALLE, Chief Justice,
concurring specially.
[¶ 27] Because of the amount of marital property to be divided in this case, the tax consequences of the division are of particular concern. They should be a concern to the parties as well as to the trial court since the greater the tax consequences the less property there is to be divided. I agree with the majority opinion that when the court is presented with no evidence of tax consequences it can only acknowledge, as did the court in this instance, that while there will be tax consequences the court cannot speculate as to what the consequences might be.
[¶ 28] Nevertheless, there is something of a catch-22 situation that arises for the parties as well as the trial court. The trial court cannot announce its decision on division of the marital property until all the evidence has been heard, and the parties cannot present precise evidence on the tax consequences of that division until after the trial court announces its decision. However, a party should be aware that the trial court might announce a property division different than what the party has proposed and seek to introduce evidence of potential tax consequences where, such as here, the trial court orders a monetary payment and it is necessary for the party to sell property to make that payment. I doubt the revelation that a party is aware the trial court might reach a different result than that proposed by the party will be fatal to the party’s case. A party might also ask leave of the court to reserve the right to introduce evidence of the tax consequences once the decision dividing the property has been announced or, after the decision has been announced, ask the trial court to consider its decision in light of the tax consequences. My review of the record in this case indicates that neither party made any effort to bring the tax consequences to the attention of the trial court.
[¶ 29] Although I believe the parties as well as the trial court could have made an effort to consider the direct tax consequences, they did not do so and on the state of the record in this case, I agree that the judgment of the district court should be affirmed.
[¶ 30] GERALD W. VANDE WALLE, C.J.