Court Opinion

ID: 9684183
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:49:45.815925+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:51.548154
License: Public Domain

GARTZKE, P. J.
(concurring). The trial court properly took Roger's pension income into account when determining his ability to pay child support even though his pension was divided as part of the marital estate. We wrongly decided Maley v. Maley, 186 Wis. 2d 125, 128, 519 N.W.2d 717, 718 (Ct. App. 1994), when we said that "[a]n asset and its income stream may not be counted both as an asset in the property division and as part of the payor's income from which support is paid." The prohibition against "double-counting," first announced in Kronforst v. Kronforst, 21 Wis. 2d 54, 123 N.W.2d 528 (1963), does not apply to child support determinations. The distinctions the majority draws between the facts of this case and those in Maley are insubstantial.
The child of divorced parents does not share in the property division.1 The division is solely between the parents. The child receives nothing from the property division. When determining child support, if the court takes into account that part of a pension assigned to the payor parent/spouse, it is "counted" for the first time for support purposes. Double-counting does not occur. Double-counting no more occurs here than it *80would if Roger's creditors attained his share of the pension to pay his debts. I would overrule Maley if we could.
We recently asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to consider our authority to overrule, withdraw language from or modify previously published precedential decisions of our court. We noted in our certification of case nos. 95-0266-CR and 95-0382-CR, State v. Johnson, that it is assumed that because the court of appeals is one court, the published decision of a panel in any district is precedential. In re Court of Appeals, 82 Wis. 2d 369, 371, 263 N.W.2d 149, 149-50 (1978). We have generally followed our published decisions even though we would decide the issue differently, if the issue were one of first impression. Kimps v. Hill, 187 Wis. 2d 508, 516, 523 N.W.2d 281, 285 (Ct. App. 1994).
The supreme court's order refusing certification states that a certified issue does not arise unless the court of appeals itself first issues a decision in which it overrules, withdraws language from or modifies its own published decision in a prior case or that of another district. The refusal order creates a Catch-22 situation. I, and I believe most judges of the court of appeals, believe that stare decisis prevents us from taking the action the supreme court insists on.
Were I writing for the majority, I would not overrule or withdraw the language in Maley. My recourse is to explain by way of this concurrence why Maley is wrong, and to hope that the supreme court grants review and overturns Maley. And perhaps the supreme court will either affirm my view of the role of stare *81decisis in the court of appeals or announce a different rule.

 The trial court's power under § 767.255(1), Stats., to set aside "a portion of the property of the parties in a separate fund or trust" for the minor children creates no interest for the child in the property divided between the parents. Nor does the power of the court in § 767.255(2)(b) to divide non-marital property to avoid hardship to the children create an interest for the children in the martial estate.