In re Marriage of Conour

2020 IL App (4th) 190324-U

In re MARRIAGE OF LYNETTE DAWN CONOUR, Petitioner-Appellee and Cross-Appellant, and JEFFREY SCOTT CONOUR, Respondent-Appellant and Cross-Appellee.

NO. 4-19-0324

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS FOURTH DISTRICT

March 10, 2020

NOTICE

This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Macon County

No. 13D53

Honorable James R. Coryell, Judge Presiding.

JUSTICE DeARMOND delivered the judgment of the court.

Justices Knecht and Harris concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶ 1 Held: The appellate court affirmed, finding the trial court did not err in its (1) award of maintenance, (2) valuation of marital property, (3) allocation of income to the petitioner, and (4) denial of petitioner's request for attorney fees.

¶ 2 In June 1994, petitioner, Lynette Conour (Lynette), and respondent, Jeffrey Conour (Jeff), were married. The marriage produced one child, A.C., born in October 1995. In February 2013, Lynette filed a petition for dissolution of marriage. In October 2018, the trial court entered a judgment of dissolution of marriage, reserving jurisdiction on all issues including the division of property, allocation of debts, and maintenance.

¶ 3 In May 2019, the trial court entered a written order determining, inter alia, that (1) Jeff shall pay $1995.48 per month in statutory maintenance to Lynette for a period of 14.8 years and applying retroactively to May 2018; (2) the value of a vacant lot adjacent to the former marital residence was $597; (3) $10,512 shall be assessed against Lynette for taking Jeff's one-half share of their 2014, 2015, and a portion of the 2016 tax refunds; and (4) each party shall pay their own attorney fees.

¶ 4 This appeal and cross-appeal followed.

¶ 5 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 6 On February 4, 2013, Lynette filed a petition for dissolution of marriage. In July 2013, the trial court entered a temporary order (1) awarding temporary and exclusive possession and control of the marital residence to Lynette; (2) awarding temporary care, custody, control, and supervision of A.C. to Lynette; (3) directing Jeff to pay $250 per week to Lynette as temporary and partial child support; (4) directing Jeff to pay up to $80 per week to A.C. for his transportation expenses; and (5) directing Jeff to pay Lynette and A.C.'s mobile phone, automobile insurance, medical insurance, homeowner's insurance, and pet expenses.

¶ 7 Following a hearing on September 7, 2018, the trial court entered a bifurcated judgment of dissolution of marriage, reserving the issues of division of property, allocation of debts, and maintenance for future consideration.

¶ 8 A. October 2018 Proceedings

¶ 9 On October 26, 2018, the case proceeded to a trial on the remaining issues. Prior to the hearing, the parties stipulated to Exhibits 5 to 17, which consisted of the parties' joint tax returns from 2011 to 2016, as well as tax returns for Jeff's business, Machine Works of Decatur, Inc. (Machine Works), from the same time period.

¶ 10 Lynette testified that she and Jeff were married in 1994 and that she had a high school education. After graduating high school in 1988, she worked full time as a travel agent for two to three years and later as a secretary for a trucking company for two to three years. AfterA.C. was born in 1995, she and Jeff agreed that she would not return to work so they could save on childcare expenses while Jeff worked full time at Caterpillar Inc. and opened Machine Works with his brother. To assist with the business, Lynette provided bookkeeping services, which she initially performed by hand. In this role, Lynette prepared invoices, filed documents, and paid bills for the company. Eventually, the company purchased a computer, which she learned to operate and used to perform her responsibilities. At the company's inception, Lynette worked about 15 to 20 hours per week; as the company grew within its first five years, her hours increased to around 20 to 30 per week.

¶ 11 Lynette testified that because Jeff was working at both Caterpillar and Machine Works, Lynette took care of all the household responsibilities in addition to caring for A.C. A.C. was involved in multiple sports, and Lynette provided transportation when travel was required. Following A.C.'s high school graduation in 2014, he attended Illinois State University (ISU) in Bloomington for one year. During that year, A.C. came home every weekend, and Lynette provided for his living expenses, including food, clothing, and spending money. After his first year in Bloomington, A.C. transferred to Richland Community College (Richland) in Decatur and moved back in with Lynette, where she again provided for his living expenses. A.C. returned to ISU for his junior and senior years. Lynette estimated that she spent "a hundred a month, or fifty a month" on A.C. during his junior year and "well over a thousand dollars" during his senior year at ISU.

¶ 12 Regarding her employment history, Lynette testified that she worked at Machine Works from the inception of the company until February 2013. She began looking for other employment in August 2012 because she and Jeff were experiencing marital problems. In addition to Machine Works, she worked part time, approximately 20 hours per week, at AdvanceVision Eye Care (Advance) from August 2012 to February 2013. In February 2013, she quit her job at Advance due to her belief there was too much "drama" in the workplace. On May 30, 2013, Jeff terminated her employment at Machine Works, and Lynette began searching for new employment. Lynette testified she was not employed between May 2013 and May 2014, though she applied at various veterinary offices and banks. In May 2014, she began working part time at Ruff-Inn-It, a boarding facility for pets. Lynette remained employed at Ruff-Inn-It, where she worked approximately 20 hours per week and earned $11.50 per hour. Lynette testified she was still actively searching for full-time employment but was struggling to find positions for which she was qualified because she had no other education (besides travel agent school) past high school. Lynette testified she received notices via email from four different employment websites to facilitate her job search.

¶ 13 Lynette testified that since their separation in 2013, she and Jeff continued to file their taxes jointly and, with their refund, they paid their property taxes and split the remainder. Lynette deposited her share of the remainder in her account but did not know if Jeff received his share by cash or check.

¶ 14 Lynette testified that she and Jeff purchased a vacant lot, called Lot #17, adjacent to the lot they purchased to build their former marital home. The lot consisted of one acre which Lynette explained was on a floodplain. They purchased Lot #17 not only to have more privacy from their neighbors but also as a space for A.C. to safely ride his motocross bikes and four-wheelers. She could not recall how much they paid for the lot but indicated that the seller "gave [them] a deal because it was—it could not be used for a house," to which Jeff objected. Lynette then introduced Exhibit 23a, which consisted of various photos of their marital home and surrounding land, which were taken in 2001, 2017, and 2018. The 2001 photos showed waterflooding into Lot #17 and children swimming in the flooded area. Lynette testified that the lot consistently flooded whenever it rained heavily. The 2017 photos showed a flooded creek behind Lot #17, and the 2018 photos also showed significant flooding into Lot #17. Lynette's financial affidavit, which was marked as petitioner's Exhibit 1, indicated that Lot #17 was worth $597. Lynette explained that she obtained that figure from their most recent property tax bill. Lynette also introduced petitioner's Exhibit 23c, which consisted of their 2017 property tax bill, and which indicated that Lot #17 had a fair market value of $597.

¶ 15 On cross-examination, Lynette clarified her previous testimony that she quit Advance in February 2013, indicating that was incorrect, and, in fact, she worked there until sometime in 2014. However, the parties agreed at oral argument that Lynette worked at Advance until sometime in 2016. Lynette said she was still trying to find a full-time position and had applied for a job roughly two weeks prior to the hearing. Before that, the last time she had applied for a job was in December 2017 when she applied for a receptionist position at Brush College Animal Hospital. Lynette testified that she did not reach out to any institutions of higher education or participate in any programs to upgrade her job skills between May 2013 and October 2018. Though she only worked until 1 p.m. on weekdays, she said she was not free during the afternoons because it took her roughly four hours, twice per week, to maintain the three acres of property around her home.

¶ 16 Lynette testified that she borrowed $6289.33 from her mother in order to pay the fee of her former attorney in this proceeding. She also owed $4625.60 to her current attorney, to whom she had already paid a $2500 retainer by using a credit card.

¶ 17 Regarding their 2016 joint tax return, Lynette testified their accountant made an error that required she and Jeff to pay approximately $5000 additional tax to the InternalRevenue Service (IRS). Lynette paid no portion of the additional amount due. Lynette agreed that she received roughly $5000 of their tax refund, while Jeff, after paying the additional amount owed, received about $100. Lynette also agreed that, in previous years, the tax refunds they received were used to pay the property taxes for the former marital home.

¶ 18 B. December 2018 Proceedings

¶ 19 The trial resumed on December 21, 2018.

¶ 20 1. Kevin Miller

¶ 21 Kevin Miller testified he was a certified real estate appraiser in Forsyth, Illinois. Miller identified respondent's Exhibit 17 as...