Court Opinion

ID: 9702266
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:04:10.272776+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:35.986863
License: Public Domain

BECK, Judge,
concurring:
I concur in the result.
The majority finds that the trial court considered husband’s contribution to the acquisition and appreciation of the marital property and concluded that this fact alone was not entitled to weight. I disagree with the majority’s analysis. The trial court opinion indicates that it considered the husband’s contribution to enhancing the value of the business and then balanced it against the wife’s contribution as a homemaker:
In considering the contribution or dissipation of each party in the acquisition, preservation, depreciation or appreciation of the marital property, the Court finds no particular weight to be given to either party in this regard. Defendant’s role in contributing as a homemaker and spouse is something that has previously been considered. Plaintiff’s role in enhancing the value of the *417business and its operations through his efforts and skills is also being taken into account.
Trial Court Opinion at 11-12.
The court, in balancing each party’s contribution to the marriage, concluded they were equal, and therefore offset each other. The fact that the husband concentrated his efforts on building the business and that the wife concentrated hers on maintaining the home does not entitle the husband to a greater share of the value of the business than the court awarded him. Each party to a marriage contributes to that enterprise in accordance with his or her ability and in accordance with the couple’s expectations. The gains attributable to the party who is responsible for economic growth are usually tangible. The gains attributable to the party who is responsible for maintaining the home are usually intangible. Just because the gains are intangible they should not be undervalued. Both parties benefit from the efforts of the spouse who maintains a home. The value of that labor must be recognized and translated into monetary value at the time the marriage is dissolved.
The majority’s opinion might lead to the erroneous conclusion that a trial court need not give weight to each factor in section 401(d) of the Divorce Code, Pa.Stat.Ann. tit. 23, § 401(d) (Purdon Supp.1987), even though that factor may be significant in evaluating the distribution of the marital estate. Such a conclusion would be contrary to legislative intent. Section 401(d) directs the trial court to consider all relevant factors. I conclude the statute means the court must give weight to each relevant factor. For example, if the factor under consideration was a 35-year marriage, during which time the parties lived together, a court in all likelihood would abuse its discretion if it recognized the length of the marriage but gave it no weight. In the instant case, the court properly considered the wife’s contribution as a homemaker under sections 401(d)(4) and 401(d)(7) and the husband’s as a businessman under 401(d)(7) and concluded their contributions were equal. It *418also considered the fact that the husband’s future earning power was greater than the wife’s. Section 401(d)(3) 1. I disagree with the majority’s interpretation that the court afforded no weight to the husband’s contribution.
Section 401(d) provides the necessary flexibility for the court to consider the relevant 401(d) factors separately and in relation to each other so as to accomplish economic justice. See Sergi v. Sergi, 351 Pa.Super. 588, 506 A.2d 928 (1986). The legislative mandate requires that the court consider and give weight to all relevant factors.
2
The majority opinion reverses the trial court’s award to the wife of five thousand dollars ($5000) in counsel fees and expenses. The court found the wife’s counsel fees and expenses amounted to approximately thirty-three thousand dollars ($33,000). I find the majority’s analysis which bases such an award on need alone over-simplified, and I disagree that need is the only criterion that the trial court is permitted to consider. I, however, agree with the majority’s conclusion that attorneys’ fees and expenses were not proper in this case.
The record reveals the history of wife’s claims for legal fees and expenses. She initially petitioned the court for interim counsel fees which the court denied.
The court stated:
It is difficult to escape the conclusion that Defendant [wife] is not occupying the typical posture of indigency which is present in many divorce cases. Her weekly income is substantial and despite the extraordinary expenses she has incurred since the separation ..., she has *419still been able to accumulate cash assets---- Under all of these circumstances, it is difficult for the Court to conclude that Defendant is at any significant disadvantage with the Plaintiff in defending this action and preparing for the issue of equitable distribution of property....
Although the court denied the wife’s petition for interim counsel fees and expenses, the trial court advanced a convincing rationale for awarding interim fees in a proper case. “[I]f it were determined later that the wife was not entitled to such fees, the Court would make an adjustment against her share of marital property based upon the overall disposition of the parties’ assets as part of its equitable distribution scheme.” Ibid. Because the court is in the position of making adjustments at the time of final disposition for any interim fees it may award, the court should liberally award such fees. The court should protect the less affluent spouse and place him or her in a position to secure competent representation. The spouse may have difficulty in securing such representation if courts do not liberally grant interim counsel fees and expenses.2 If the less affluent spouse is unable to make periodic payments from his or her own resources to an attorney and if there is little likelihood that interim counsel fees will be awarded, such a spouse may be deprived of adequate representation. Many attorneys and expert witnesses cannot afford to forego their fees for the several years that it takes to resolve the dispute between the parties. An interim award which can then be adjusted at final settlement is the sensible solution to this difficult problem.
Here, however, the court’s denial of interim counsel fees was proper. The wife’s income from her teaching position as well as rental property was substantial and sufficient so *420that she could bear the cost of interim counsel fees and expenses. Furthermore, the record reveals no equities which would entitle her to interim counsel fees and expenses.
In its subsequent final order, the trial court awarded the wife counsel fees and expenses. In doing so, the court considered the wife’s testimony that she consumed her savings to pay retainer fees for her expert witnesses. She also stated her total savings at the time of the equitable distribution hearing was $600, and her income was derived solely from her salary as a teacher and from rental property. N.T. 7/17/85 at 112-13. The trial court’s award to the wife was based in part on wife’s argument that she bore complete responsibility and substantial expenses for securing experts who testified to the valuation of the parties’ assets whereas husband presented little other than his own testimony regarding valuation of these assets. Thus the trial court awarded wife $5000 in partial attorney’s fees and expenses based on a rationale of general equity principles.
Parties to litigation usually pay their own costs and attorneys’ fees. The general rule is subject to a few exceptions. For example, a court may grant a request for fees and costs when authorized by statute or when the defeated party acted in bad faith. See e.g. Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. v. Wilderness Society, 421 U.S. 240, 92 S.Ct. 1612, 44 L.Ed.2d 141 (1975). In sections 401(b) and 5023, The Pennsylvania Divorce Code provides that the court may require one spouse to pay for the other’s attor*421ney’s fees, costs and expenses. Neither section limits the court’s discretion in determining the appropriateness of an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses. Neither section requires that counsel fees and expenses be limited to those situations where the petitioning party proves need. Perlberger states that the grant of counsel fees and costs is dependent on the equities. N. Perlberger, Pennsylvania Divorce Code § 7.14 (1980). Such a standard is preferable and I would adopt it.
In awarding counsel fees and expenses, the law has developed in two directions. The first direction requires the petitioning spouse to show the award is necessary to maintain and to defend the divorce action. These cases require the petitioning spouse to show actual need of an award in order to achieve “par” in protecting the spouse’s rights in the divorce action. Ganong v. Ganong, 355 Pa.Super. 483, 513 A.2d 1024 (1986), Miller v. Miller, 352 Pa.Super. 432, 508 A.2d 550 (1986), Vajda v. Vajda, 337 Pa.Super. 573, 487 A.2d 409 (1985), Hoover v. Hoover, 288 Pa.Super. 159, 431 A.2d 337 (1981), Wiegand v. Wiegand, 242 Pa.Super. 170, 363 A.2d 1215 (1976), Moore v. Moore, 198 Pa.Super. 349, 181 A.2d 714 (1962).
Another direction, less prevalent in our case law but nonetheless strong, permits an award of counsel fees, expenses and costs, based on equitable considerations:
The determination to award counsel fees is made on a case-by-case basis after an analysis of all relevant factors including the “husband’s ability to pay, the separate estate of the wife, the character, situation and surroundings of the parties____ The statute contemplates ... the administration of fair and impartial justice by placing the parties on a par in defending their rights.” Jack v. Jack, 253 Pa.Super. 538, 545-46, 385 A.2d 469, 473 (1978); Fried v. Fried, 326 Pa.Super. 271, 473 A.2d 1087 (1984) [quashed for lack of jurisdiction, 509 Pa. 89, 501 A.2d 211 (1985)].
Dech v. Dech, 342 Pa.Super. 17, 492 A.2d 41 (1985). See Benson v. Benson, 357 Pa.Super. 166, 515 A.2d 917 (1986) *422(no abuse of discretion when trial court concludes that neither the economic situation of either party nor the equities of the case supported an award of counsel fees.)
In Pennsylvania one line of cases focuses on financial need alone, and the other focuses on all relevant factors. Permitting the court to focus on all relevant factors is the preferable approach. If one spouse’s action or inaction significantly raises legal fees or costs for the other unnecessarily, is it equitable for the second spouse to bear the added burden even if such spouse can afford it? If one spouse presents little or no testimony on valuation and the second spouse at his or her own expense provides the court with expert testimony relating to valuation, is it equitable for the second spouse to bear the entire expense of the experts even if he or she can afford it?
I note that other jurisdictions grant the trial court equitable powers to make awards without limiting consideration to the relative financial positions of the parties. For example in Missouri, the divorce statute provides that the court may consider all relevant factors rather than just the financial resources, thereby allowing the court considerable discretion. Kieffer v. Kieffer, 590 S.W.2d 915, 918-19 (Mo. 1979), Gaddis v. Gaddis, 632 S.W.2d 326 (Mo.App.1982).
By judicial decision, Connecticut has also granted the trial court broad discretion. The Connecticut Supreme Court specifically held that:
“in the exercise of a trial court’s discretion regarding an award of counsel fees, ‘the availability of “sufficient cash” to pay one’s attorney’s fees is not an absolute litmus test---- [A] trial court’s discretion should be guided so that its decision regarding attorney’s fees does not undermine its purpose in making any other financial award.’ ... Taking into account the totality of the circumstances reflected in the financial awards as a whole, we cannot find that the trial court abused its discretion and acted unreasonably in granting the [plaintiff’s] request for counsel fees. Although the alimony awarded to the [plaintiff] provided her with liquid assets, the trial *423court could reasonably have concluded that it wanted to preserve those assets for the [plaintiffs] use without the burden of the contested ... attorney’s fees.
Palazzo v. Palazzo, 9 Conn.App. 486, 490, 519 A.2d 1230, 1232 (1987) (citations omitted).
The District of Columbia courts, in the face of a restrictive statute which provides that the courts may, “require the husband or wife to pay ... suit money, including counsel fees, to enable such other spouse to conduct the case, whether as the plaintiff or the defendant” D.C.Code § 16-911(a)(l) (1981), have granted the trial court broad discretion. In the District of Columbia there are several factors to be weighed:
In deciding whether to award a fee, it is proper for the court to consider whether the litigation has been oppressive or burdensome to the party seeking the award____ The judge may also examine the motivation and behavior of the litigating parties____ However, these factors are properly used only in coming to a determination of whether any award shall be made; once the threshold is crossed, these preliminary factors may play no role in deciding the amount of the fee to be awarded____ In setting the amount, among the factors the court should consider are the quality and nature of the services performed, the necessity for the services, and the results obtained from the services, and the financial ability of the spouse being ordered to pay.
Steadman v. Steadman, 514 A.2d 1196, 1200 (D.C.1986) (citations omitted). In its equitable considerations, the District of Columbia courts consider a variety of factors to determine the award of counsel fees and costs. The court determines the amount of the award independent of the petitioning spouse’s financial condition.
In the case sub judice the trial court’s award of attorneys’ fees and expenses to the wife was based on the equities in the case. The trial court specifically relied on the fact that the wife bore complete responsibility to secure experts on valuation. The court noted that $8000 out of a total $33,000 *424for reasonable counsel fees and expenses for wife have already been paid out of husband’s share of the equitable distribution. The wife has received a substantial proportion of the marital estate pursuant to equitable distribution. The court’s equity rationale therefore does not support the grant of $5000 to her. The wife has already derived enormous benefit from her expert witnesses. As a result of their testimony, the trial court placed a higher valuation on the family business than husband testified to. Therefore, although I would normally accord deference to the trial court where its decision is on equitable considerations rather than financial need alone, I do not do so in the case sub judice. I agree with the majority that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding partial attorneys’ fees and expenses to the wife in the light of the amount already paid out to her from the marital estate, the size of the distribution to her, and the benefit she derived from the experts she provided.

. The relevant factors in section 401(d), 23 Pa.Stat.Ann. tit. 23, § 401(d) (Purdon Supp.1987) are:
(3) The age, health, station, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities and needs of each of the parties.
(4) The contribution by one party to the education, training, or increased earning power of the other party.
(7) The contribution or dissipation of each party in the acquisition, preservation, depreciation or appreciation of the marital property, including the contribution of a party as homemaker.

. Whereas an interim award for attorneys’ fees and expenses should often be encouraged, an interim award for costs is not proper under the Divorce Code. Pa.Stat.Ann. tit. 23, § 401(b). Costs include all court costs, including masters’ fees and stenographic charges. Pa.R. Civ.P. 1920.62. See McNulty v. McNulty, 347 Pa.Super. 363, 500 A.2d 876 (1985).

. Pa.Stat.Ann. tit. 23, §§ 401, 502 (Purdon Supp.1987):
§ 401. Decree of court
The court may order alimony, reasonable counsel fees and expenses pending final disposition of the matters provided for in this subsection and upon final disposition, the court may award costs to the party in whose favor the order or decree shall be entered, or may order that each party shall pay his or her own costs, or may order that costs be divided equitably as it shall appear just and reasonable.
§ 502. Alimony pendente lite, counsel fees and expenses The court may, upon petition, in proper cases, allow a spouse reasonable alimony pendente lite and reasonable counsel fees and expenses.