Court Opinion

ID: 9738114
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 19:43:00.156574+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:03.779187
License: Public Domain

LANSING, Judge
(concurring in part, dissenting in part).
I concur in the majority’s holding that the trial court properly awarded Mary Ann Roel a portion of Tom Roel’s non-marital property because, without that property, she would suffer unfair hardship. I cannot, however, agree that any part of the contract-for-deed payments that Tom Roel receives from the sale of his parents’ property is marital.
Tom Roel’s interest in this property arose from two transactions: a gift from his mother to each of her three children individually, and a later sale to them of her life estate interest. The gift is indisputably nonmarital property. The life estate interest was acquired by Tom Roel and his siblings in exchange for their promise to pay a fixed sum. No money was exchanged when the life estate was conveyed. The children sold the land in fee four days later and structured the transaction to satisfy the debt to their mother. The contract payments are applied first to the amounts owed to Florence Roel; the remaining proceeds are distributed among the three children. Although the amount received by Tom Roel may be a blend of gift, gain and purchase, the money is clearly traceable to nonmarital assets.
Tracing an asset to a nonmarital source is required in Minnesota when the owner shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the asset was “acquired in exchange for” nonmarital property. Kottke v. Kottke, 353 N.W.2d 633, 636 (Minn.Ct.App.1984), pet. for rev. denied, (Minn. Dec. 20, 1984). The record is clear that Tom Roel exchanged his nonmarital interest in the family farmland for the contract-for-deed payments. The record cannot support a determination that any part of the payments are marital.
*624Proper classification of this nonmarital income would result in a decrease of Mary Ann Roel’s available resources. For that reason, I would remand to the trial court to correct the marital-nonmarital classification of the contract-for-deed payments, redetermine what share of the nonmarital assets should be allocated to Mary Ann Roel, and to consider a reservation for future spousal maintenance.
Mary Ann Roel has significant health problems and a limited work history, which may prevent her from obtaining gainful employment. Tom Roel also has had health problems and his income is presently insufficient to warrant a maintenance award. However, he has a substantial employment history and prospects of future employment. Reserving the issue of maintenance would be appropriate. See Larson v. Larson, 383 N.W.2d 18, 20-21 (Minn.Ct.App.1986).