Court Opinion

ID: 9749991
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 14:10:59.103671+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:26:01.136694
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
dissenting.
Today, the majority has grafted a new provision onto the Divorce Code not heretofore provided for or intended by the Legislature. In addition to equitable distribution and alimony, we now have “equitable reimbursement”. This judicial creation provides monthly payments which cannot be awarded as alimony because the spouse did not qualify, and is in lieu of equitable distribution in instances when no property exists for distribution. The rationale for creating this new provision is that the supporting spouse has been “used”. That rationale defiles the fundamental concept of marriage by reducing it to a balance sheet retroactively weighing individual efforts made at a time when the individual labors on behalf of the family unit.
Even under the Uniform Partnership Act, 15 Pa.C.S.A. § 8301 et seq., when a partnership dissolves, partners are not required to retroactively account for all expenditures undertaken throughout the relationship. Now, before entering into the ultimate partnership, each partner will be required to create a legal partnership under the Uniform *498Partnership Act, to protect themselves from any unforeseen consequences should their marriage partnership dissolve. To me, such action appears absurd.
Because I cannot agree with this rationale nor the legal gymnastics employed by the majority to reach its result, I must dissent. The Court’s holding today will only further exasperate an at times already very volatile and emotional union with the requirement that prospective spouses not only keep a strict accounting of finances during the marriage, but view “marriage” as an investment that requires the investor to continually monitor his or her “investment portfolio”.
Section 102 of the Divorce Code sets forth the intended purpose of the Code:
(1) Make the law for legal dissolution of marriage effective for dealing with the realities of matrimonial experience.

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(3) Give primary consideration to the welfare of the family rather than the vindication of private rights or the punishment of matrimonial wrongs.

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(6) Effectuate economic justice between parties who are divorced or separated and grant or withhold alimony according to the actual need and ability to pay of the the [sic] parties and insure a fair and just determination and settlement of their property rights.
23 P.S. § 102 (emphasis added). The Legislature has directed us to take these objectives into consideration when construing provisions of the Code. 23 P.S. § 102(b).
In the 1980 version of § 501, alimony was arguably conditioned upon the inability to provide for oneself. This controversy was confronted and unresolved in Hodge v. Hodge, 513 Pa. 264, 520 A.2d 15 (1986). In that case, I adopted the view expressed by Judge Wieand in Lehmicke v. Lehmicke, 339 Pa.Super. 559, 573-574, 489 A.2d 782, 790 *499(1985) with regard to the realities of a marital relationship and its attending responsibilities:
The duty of support is imposed by rule of law on both spouses. Compliance with this legal duty does not result in unjust enrichment to the other. Marriage is for better or worse. It is not entered with a conscious intent that at some future time there will be an accounting of and reimbursement for moneys contributed to the support of the family. To inject such a concept would in my judgment, have far-reaching and unfortunate consequences. If I am correct in my view regarding the duty of spousal support, then it is difficult to perceive good reason for creating an exception which would reimburse a spouse for support contributed while the other is attending an institution of higher learning or otherwise obtaining advanced training.
Because § 501 clearly prohibits equitable alimony, the Appellant must rely upon § 401(c). But to support the application of § 401(c), the majority refers to the factors set forth in § 501(b). The majority accomplishes indirectly what it cannot accomplish directly.
This is not a situation in which one spouse is seeking reimbursement for expenditures that directly increase the other spouse’s earning capacity. As the majority notes, Mrs. Bold did not actually pay educational expenses associated with her husband’s academic degree. Rather, Appellant is seeking and the court is awarding a return of funds expended for the necessities of life. We now will require reimbursement of a spouse for a roof, food and clothing. This clearly was not intended by the Legislature.
Even under § 501, as amended, such a position is untenable. While I realize that the Legislature has removed the “inability to provide” prerequisite for alimony as alluded to in Hodge, alimony continues to be based on need and the Legislature has set forth the factors to be considered in evaluating that need. One such factor is the contribution made by one spouse to the education, training or increased earning power of the other party. 23 P.S. § 501(b)(6). *500Thus, if a spouse is in need of assistance for a period of time to increase her/his earning capacity, alimony may be appropriate. Likewise, a spouse may receive a greater percentage, if not all, of the marital assets, if such an award is found to be appropriate after a review of all of the factors set forth in § 401. The legislature has provided a comprehensive scheme to resolve the economic issues in a failed marriage, keeping in mind the purposes set forth in § 102. This Court is now imposing new provisions that run contrary to those purposes. For the foregoing reasons I cannot agree with the majority and therefore dissent.