Martin v. Martin

920 A.2d 340

101 Conn.App. 106

Marie Claire France MARTIN v. Francis Walter MARTIN.

No. 27514.

Appellate Court of Connecticut.

Argued January 3, 2007.

Decided May 8, 2007.

Kevin B.F. Emerson, for the appellant (defendant).

Jean M. Stawicki, Colchester, for the appellee (plaintiff).

FLYNN, C.J., and SCHALLER and HENNESSY, Js.

SCHALLER, J.

In this marital dissolution action, the defendant, Francis Walter Martin, appeals from the judgment of the trial court with respect to the court's financial orders. Specifically, the defendant claims that the court abused its discretion by (1) awarding the plaintiff, Marie Claire France Martin, 100 percent of the equity in the former marital residence, (2) awarding the plaintiff 100 percent of the equity in the residence as an offset against an award of alimony on the basis of erroneous findings, (3) valuing the residence as of the date of the parties' separation instead of the date of dissolution and (4) valuing the residence without any appraisal or expert testimony. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The following facts and procedural history are relevant to our resolution of the defendant's appeal. The parties were married on August 8, 1987, in Quebec, Canada. Although the parties did not have any issue of the marriage, for a period of time the plaintiff's children from a prior relationship resided with the parties. The defendant, a former Connecticut state police trooper, had received two disability pensions (pensions) since 1981, prior to his marriage to the plaintiff. The parties stipulated that, as of November 30, 2005, the value of the defendant's pensions was $363,000.

In 1998, the parties purchased a condominium located at 64 Highland Circle (residence) in Colchester. The purchase price for the residence was $147,900, and the parties financed $133,100. The defendant, with the help of the plaintiff, made numerous improvements to the residence. The parties stipulated that, as of November 30, 2005, the value of the residence was $272,500, subject to a mortgage of approximately $99,723.77, resulting in equity in the amount of $172,777. The defendant moved out of the residence in December, 2003, and did not contribute to the mortgage, the plaintiff's living expenses or the expenses associated with the residence.

The plaintiff commenced the dissolution action on February 4, 2004. After a one day trial, the court issued its memorandum of decision on December 20, 2005. The court found that the marriage had broken down irretrievably without hope of reconciliation, with the defendant having been more at fault for the breakdown. After considering the pertinent statutory factors, the court dissolved the marriage and issued various financial orders. Specifically, the court ordered that the "defendant shall quitclaim any interest he had in the [residence] to the plaintiff. She shall assume all indebtedness on said [residence], and pay all expenses connected thereto and hold the defendant harmless therefrom." Further, the court awarded no alimony to either party and stated that "[t]he defendant shall retain his life insurance and his pensions, which the court finds to be a premarital asset, free of any claim from the plaintiff."

On January 4, 2006, the defendant, pursuant to Practice Book § 11-11, filed a motion to reargue, which the court denied with respect to the issues on appeal.¹ The defendant filed the present appeal on March 27, 2006. On May 22, 2006, the defendant moved for an articulation of the court's decision, which was denied on June 9, 2006.² Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.

As a preliminary matter, we set forth the standard of review and legal principles applicable to the defendant's claims on appeal. "In fashioning its financial orders, the court has broad discretion, and [j]udicial review of a trial court's exercise of [this] broad discretion . . . is limited to the questions of whether the . . . court correctly applied the law and could reasonably have concluded as it did. . . . In making those determinations, we allow every reasonable presumption . . . in favor of the correctness of [the trial court's] action. . . . That standard of review reflects the sound policy that the trial court has the unique opportunity to view the parties and their testimony, and is therefore in the best position to assess all of the circumstances surrounding a dissolution action, including such factors as the demeanor and the attitude of the parties." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Sander v. Sander, 96 Conn.App. 102, 105, 899 A.2d 670 (2006); see also Purnell v. Purnell, 95 Conn.App. 677, 685, 897 A.2d 717, cert. denied, 280 Conn. 903, 907 A.2d 91 (2006).

"In distributing the assets of the marital estate, the court is required by [General Statutes] § 46b-81 to consider the estate of each of the parties. . . . General Statutes § 46b-81(a) provides in relevant part: At the time of entering a decree . . . dissolving a marriage . . . the Superior Court may assign to either the husband or wife all or any part of the estate of the other. . . . Courts are not required to ritualistically recite the criteria they considered, nor are they bound to any specific formula respecting the weight to be accorded each factor in determining the distribution of marital assets." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Mann v. Miller, 93 Conn.App. 809, 812, 890 A.2d 581 (2006); Raso v. Raso, 92 Conn.App. 678, 681, 886 A.2d 863 (2005).

Last, we recite our standard with respect to the court's factual findings. "Appellate review of a trial court's findings of fact is governed by the clearly erroneous standard of review. The trial court's findings are binding upon this court unless they are clearly erroneous in light of the evidence and the pleadings in the record as a whole. . . . A finding of fact is clearly erroneous when there is no evidence in the record to support it . . . or when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Gervais v. Gervais, 91 Conn.App. 840, 844, 882 A.2d 731, cert. denied, 276 Conn. 919, 888 A.2d 88 (2005); Chyung v. Chyung, 86 Conn.App. 665, 667-68, 862 A.2d 374 (2004), cert. denied, 273 Conn. 904, 868 A.2d 744 (2005). Guided by these principles, we address each of the defendant's claims presented on appeal.

I

The defendant first claims that the court abused its discretion by awarding the plaintiff 100 percent of the equity in the residence. Specifically, he argues that it was improper for the court to offset his pensions, a premarital asset, against all of the equity in the residence, a marital asset, which was awarded to the plaintiff. We are not persuaded.

As we previously noted, among other orders, the court awarded the plaintiff the residence and the defendant his pensions. Pension benefits constitute a form of deferred compensation for services rendered. Thompson v. Thompson, 183 Conn. 96, 100, 438 A.2d 839 (1981). "Pension benefits are widely recognized as among the most valuable assets that parties have when a marriage ends." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Ricciuti v. Ricciuti, 74 Conn.App. 120, 124, 810 A.2d 818 (2002), cert. denied, 262 Conn. 946, 815 A.2d 676 (2003); Stamp v. Visconti, 51 Conn.App. 84, 86, 719 A.2d 1223 (1998). Nevertheless, there is no set formula that a court must follow when dividing the parties' assets, including pension benefits. Casey v. Casey, 82 Conn.App. 378, 386-87, 844 A.2d 250 (2004).

Our Supreme Court has stated "that the purpose of property division is to unscramble the ownership of property, giving to each spouse what is equitably his [or hers]. . . . The bare legal title to property acquired or accumulated by the spouses during marriage often does not correspond to their real rights in such property. H. Clark, Law of Domestic Relations (1968) § 14.8, p. 450." (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) Watson v. Watson, 221 Conn. 698, 711, 607 A.2d 383 (1992); see also A. Rutkin & K. Hogan, 7 Connecticut Practice Series: Family Law and Practice (1999) § 26.3, p. 472 ("[g]iven the broad scope of the Connecticut equitable distribution statute, attorneys are spared the effort or need to distinguish between `marital' and `non-marital' assets"). This process is not bound by a well defined blueprint but rather is molded to the needs of justice. See Lawler v. Lawler, 16 Conn.App. 193, 204, 547 A.2d 89 (1988), appeal dismissed, 212 Conn. 117, 561 A.2d 128 (1989).

"The distribution of assets in a dissolution action is governed by § 46b-81, which provides in pertinent part that a trial court may assign to either the husband or the wife all or any part of the estate of the other. . . . In fixing the nature and value of the property, if any, to be assigned, the court, after hearing the witnesses, if any, of each party . . . shall consider the length of the marriage, the causes for the . . . dissolution of the marriage . . . the age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities and needs of each of the parties and the opportunity of each for future acquisition of capital assets and income. The court shall also consider the contribution of each of the parties in the acquisition, preservation or appreciation in value of their respective estates. . . . This approach to property division is commonly referred to as an all-property equitable distribution scheme. See 3 Family Law and Practice (A. Rutkin ed., 1995) § 37.01[2][a][v], p. 37-19. [Section 46b-81] does not limit, either by timing or method of acquisition or by source of funds, the property subject to a trial court's broad allocative power. A. Rutkin, E. Effron & K. Hogan, 7 Connecticut Practice Series: Family Law and Practice with Forms (1991) § 27.1, pp. 398-400." (Emphasis added; internal...