Court Opinion

ID: 9536438
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 06:59:51.359066+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:54:29.660662
License: Public Domain

VOSS, Judge,
specially concurring:
I agree with the result reached by the majority, but not the attempt to reconcile Arizona case law and the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws with the holding in Lorenz-Auxier Financial Group Inc. v. Bidewell, 772 P.2d 41 (App.1989).
In Lorenz-Auxier, Mr. Bidewell, an Oregon domiciliary, contracted personally to purchase telephone systems; Mr. Bide-well’s wife, also an Oregon domiciliary, did not sign the contracts. The contracts were executed and were to be performed in Arizona. At the time the contracts were executed, the Bidewells resided in Oregon. When the Bidewells were sued for non-payment on the contracts, they no longer lived in Oregon.
Without citing authority, the court in Lorenz-Auxier began its analysis with the following:
Because, at all times relevant to this case, the Bidewells resided in Oregon, a non-community property state, we would ordinarily look to the law of Oregon to decide Mrs. Bidewell’s susceptibility to judgment on this debt.
Id. at 44.
This statement forecasts the holding in Lorenz-Auxier and the statement, like the holding, is wrong.
In Lorenz-Auxier the court holds, without discussing the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws, that courts should apply the law of the state of matrimonial domicile, when to do otherwise would defeat *33marital property protections provided by the law of the marital domicile. Id. at 45. Citing Oregon authority, the court states: “Mrs. Bidewell obtained a measure of protection through these statutes that her husband could not unilaterally sign away.” Id. Therefore, under Lorenz-Auxier, when suit is brought in Arizona naming several domiciliaries of other states, the trial court would be required to evaluate the marital property law of each out-of-state participant to determine if the application of Arizona law would negatively affect the protection provided marital property in those states. Because marital property law varies dramatically among many states, the result could be a different choice of law from party to party. This result is antithetical to the purpose of conflicts resolution, i.e., it is more practical and convenient to determine rights and obligations of several parties under the same law. Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 194, comment (b).
The majority arguably establishes a new two-step process using Lorenz-Auxier and the Restatement. First, apply the Lorenz-Auxier test. If the out-of-state non-signing marital partner’s property rights are “restricted, reduced, or jeopardized” by the signing party’s acts in Arizona, apply the law of the marital domicile. If not, “it makes sense” to apply the Restatement. I respectfully submit that deleting the first step is the appropriate approach to a consistent resolution of a conflicts case.
As stated by the majority, Arizona has generally taken the position that if a contract is executed and performed in Arizona, Arizona law applies. This is consistent with the Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws, §§ 188 and 194. The underlying principle of the Restatement is to choose the law of the state with the most significant relationship to the occurrence and the parties. See Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws, introduction at vii-viii (1971).
In Mott v. Eddins, 151 Ariz. 54, 725 P.2d 761 (App.1986), Division II of this court considered whether a contract for the sale of realty signed only by the husband was enforceable against the community. At the time the husband executed the contract, the husband and wife were domiciled in California. This court held that Arizona law applied. In reaching its decision, the court analyzed the transaction under the principles of the Restatement and concluded that Arizona had the most significant relationship to the transaction because the land was located in Arizona, the contract was executed in Arizona, and the contract was to be performed in Arizona. The only connection California had with the transaction was that one party to the contract was a California resident. The same analysis is applicable to the instant case.
I concur with the majority that Arizona law was applicable to the guarantee in this case and that the trial court properly entered summary judgment. I respectfully disagree, however, with the inclusion of the Lorenz-Auxier test as a proper step in reaching the result.