Bloedow v. Maes-Bloedow

1

2024 WY 115

WADE BOYD BLOEDOW, Appellant (Plaintiff), v. NICOLE MAES-BLOEDOW, Appellee (Defendant).

No. S-24-0062

Supreme Court of Wyoming

November 8, 2024

Appeal from the District Court of Sweetwater County The Honorable Richard L. Lavery, Judge

Representing Appellant:

Robert E. Schroth, Sr., Katharine E. Lovett, Schroth & Schroth LLC, Jackson, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee:

Hilary K. Brewster, Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Before FOX, C.J., BOOMGAARDEN, GRAY, FENN, and JAROSH, JJ.

JAROSH, JUSTICE

[¶1] Wade Bloedow (Husband) and Nicole Maes-Bloedow (Wife) married in 2017, but filed for divorce in 2022. After a bench trial the district court granted the parties a divorce, divided the marital property, and ordered Husband to pay child support and temporary alimony. Husband appealed, contending the district court abused its discretion in its property distribution, calculation of Husband's income for purposes of child support, and award of temporary alimony. He also claimed the district court erred by failing to properly credit him for temporary payments made while the divorce was pending. We affirm.

ISSUES

[¶2] Husband formally stated three issues for review but presented argument on four issues, which we rephrase as follows:

1. Did the district court abuse its discretion in its distribution of marital property pursuant to Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-214?

2. Did the district court abuse its discretion in determining Husband's income for the purposes of calculating child support?

3. Did the district court abuse its discretion in awarding temporary alimony to Wife?

4. Did the district court abuse its discretion in failing to properly credit Husband for support payments he made during the pendency of the action?

FACTS

[¶3] After first living together for nearly two years, Husband and Wife married on August 5, 2017. Both parties brought their own children into the marriage; Wife had a daughter, and Husband had two daughters and a son. Husband also has an adult daughter. In 2018, Husband and Wife welcomed twin daughters. The family lived in Rock Springs, where Husband operated a construction business while Wife stayed home and took care of the children. At various times, Wife cared for all of the parties' minor children, including those from other relationships. In 2021, Husband made a net profit of $178,285 operating the construction business. In 2022, his net profit was an estimated $165,805.

[¶4] The parties lived in a house Husband began purchasing prior to the marriage for $150,000 under a contract for deed. Across the street from their home, the parties owned a vacant lot purchased from a business account for $25,000. Husband used the lot to store equipment and materials for his business. Wife entered the marriage with no savings account and few assets, while Husband entered it with substantial assets. During the marriage, the parties acquired numerous vehicles, as well as side-by-sides, trailers, and snowmobiles.

[¶5] In early 2022, Wife relocated to Superior, Wyoming, while Husband remained in the marital home. Wife began working 25-35 hours/week, earning $12/hour. On March 29, 2022, Husband filed for divorce. Wife filed an answer and counter complaint for divorce on April 27, 2022. The following week, the district court entered a Mutual Temporary Restraining Order [Mutual TRO], requiring each party to refrain from "[m]olesting, harassing, disturbing the peace of or assaulting the other party or any other natural or adopted child or ward of either party or otherwise interfering with the personal liberties of the other party." The Mutual TRO also prevented either party from "[t]ransferring, concealing, encumbering or otherwise disposing of each other's property or their joint property without the prior written consent of all Parties or the Court, except as and for the necessities of daily living." In August 2022, the district court entered its Order on Defendant's Motion for Child Support, Temporary Spousal Support, Partial Release of Marital Funds and Attorney Fees. Relevant to this appeal, the district court awarded Wife temporary custody of the parties' twins and child and spousal support in the amount of $3,000/month. The court also ordered Husband to make the monthly payment of $958 on a 2017 Ford Expedition.

[¶6] In late 2022 Wife filed the following: 1) Motion for Order Allowing Defendant to Retrieve Personal Property and Motion for Order to Show Cause; and 2) Motion for Order Modifying Temporary Support. The district court subsequently entered an order finding Husband in contempt "for his failure to pay temporary support in the full amount of $3,958.00 per month as ordered." The Contempt Order provided Husband could purge his contempt "by collaborating with [Wife] to sell certain assets of the marital estate" and delivering the proceeds to Wife.

[¶7] After a bench trial in April 2023, the district court granted the parties a divorce, divided the marital property, and awarded Mother custody of the parties' twin daughters, with visitation generally as agreed upon by the parties. In its Judgment and Decree of Divorce and its subsequent Amended Judgment and Decree of Divorce [combined the Divorce Decree], the district court found Husband's testimony about marital property was not credible, he corruptly swore falsely during a previous hearing, and he fraudulently concealed and disposed of or dissipated the parties' assets:

11. … [Husband] was not candid with [Wife] or the court. His testimony was, at best, non-responsive and evasive. He contradicted himself on numerous occasions. As an example, he previously testified that he had given a Ford Mustang automobile worth approximately $40,000 to a third party, that he had driven it to Wisconsin (where he lived before moving to Wyoming) and flew back home, and as a result it was no longer a marital asset. The court finds he corruptly swore falsely. At the final hearing he testified that he had bills of sale for the Mustang, a snowmobile trailer, and a camper (though he failed to produce them in discovery) but they were still his, he could get them back from a friend in Bondurant, Wyoming, he just put the title out of his name. The court finds he fraudulently transferred these titles in an effort to commit a fraud on [Wife] and the court.

12. [Husband] engaged in a pattern of concealing or dissipating assets, taking approximately $47,000 from a bank account, and falsely testifying it all went into the business at the July hearing on temporary support. Yet, after [Wife] obtained the bank statements, he had to admit on cross at the November hearing that he spent $13,000 gambling, spent $5,000 on a down payment for a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and spent thousands of dollars on tattoos. These are just some of many examples of [Husband's] failures to be truthful under oath. As such, unless supported [by] other credible evidence, [Husband's] testimony and documents prepared by [Husband] have little or no evidentiary value.

[¶8] After considering the factors in Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 20-2-114 (LexisNexis 2023) and as a partial substitute for rehabilitative alimony^[1], the district court awarded Wife most of the parties' marital assets and assigned Husband most of the debts. Specifically, the court awarded Husband the marital home, but ordered Husband to pay Wife $75,000, equal to half the equity in the home based upon its assessed value and the remaining amount owed. It also awarded Husband the vacant lot across the street and his business, while awarding each party several vehicles and various personal property. The district court ordered Husband to pay the parties' debts, including the home debt, his business debt, Wife's medical debt ($2,796.70), IRS debt, the debt on Wife's vehicle, all the guardian ad litem fees, and $15,000 of Wife's attorney fees. The court ordered Wife to pay any debt that was in her name only or that she incurred after the parties separated.

[¶9] The district court then determined Husband's presumptive child support obligation was $1,916/month based upon the parties' respective net monthly incomes and ordered Husband to begin paying that amount August 1, 2023. The district court's determination of Husband's income for the purposes of child support was based on its findings as to his 2021 and 2022 income. The court also ordered Husband to pay Wife $1,084 in temporary, rehabilitative alimony from August 1, 2023, through the end of the year (unless Husband had not complied with the property division the court ordered, in which case alimony would continue until Husband made all required transfers of property and money). It also found Husband still owed Wife $20,450 through May 1, 2023, under the Temporary Support Order and Contempt Order. The district court later amended the original divorce decree and ordered Husband to pay $3,000/month for June and July 2023. Husband appealed.

[¶10] We will provide additional facts as needed below.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶11] The disposition of marital property, including the decision to award alimony, is committed to the sound discretion of the district court. Morrison v. Rubio, 2022 WY 26 ¶ 16, 504 P.3d 251, 255 (Wyo. 2022); Conzelman v Conzelman, 2019 WY 123, ¶ 15, 453 P.3d 773, 778 (Wyo. 2019). We review the district court's division of marital property, including the decision to award alimony, for an abuse of discretion. Hyatt v. Hyatt, 2023 WY 129, ¶ 11, 540 P.3d 873, 880 (Wyo. 2023) (citations omitted). To determine whether the district court abused its discretion, "we consider the reasonableness of its decision." Golden v. Guion, 2016 WY 54, ¶ 18, 375 P.3d 719, 724 (Wyo. 2016); see also Verheydt v. Verheydt, 2013 WY 25, ¶ 19, 295 P.3d 1245, 1250 (Wyo. 2013); Malli v. Malli, 2020 WY 42, ¶ 14, ...