Debra L. Myer v. Michael A. Myer (mem. dec.)
71A04-1604-DR-719
| Ind. Ct. App. | Apr 19, 2017Background
- Debra and Michael Myer married in 1990; Debra filed for legal separation and Michael later filed for dissolution (2013). The trial court held hearings in 2015 and entered a dissolution decree in March 2016.
- The court found the children emancipated and evaluated both parties’ real property, bank accounts, retirement accounts (including an IRA Debra received in a prior divorce), debts (including a prior support-related student loan), and other assets/liabilities.
- Court awarded Tyler Road property to Michael and Quinn Road property to Debra; credited Michael $1,756 for increased taxes on the Tyler Road property after a homestead exemption was removed.
- The court excluded Debra’s pre-marital portion of her IRA and the prior-support student loan from divisible marital property, then divided the remaining marital estate equally and ordered Michael to pay Debra $25,480 as an equalization payment.
- The court denied Debra’s request for attorney fees and found no dissipation of marital assets by Debra.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Debra) | Defendant's Argument (Michael) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether division of marital property was an abuse of discretion | Trial court applied wrong standard, failed to make specific findings, and should have awarded Debra a larger share | Court favored equal division; credit for homestead tax was advantageous to Debra and overall division was fair | No abuse of discretion; court considered statutory factors and division affirmed |
| Homestead exemption tax credit treatment | Court erred by crediting Michael for tax increase (Debra disputes causing loss) | Michael sought reimbursement for increased taxes after exemption removed | Court found Debra caused removal and credited Michael $1,756; including it as a marital asset and dividing resulted in a net benefit to Debra; affirmed |
| Treatment of pre-marital IRA and prior-support student loan | Debra argued for treatment of assets/debts in division | Michael argued inclusion of tax credit and equal division appropriate; court treated pre-marital IRA and prior-support debt as excluded | Court set aside pre-marital portion of Debra’s IRA to her and excluded the prior-support student loan from marital debt, then equally divided remaining property |
| Attorney fees award | Debra requested contribution toward her attorney fees | Michael argued each party should bear own fees given relative resources and division outcome | Court declined to award fees; affirmed as within trial court discretion given parties’ resources and Debra received slightly over half of estate |
Key Cases Cited
- Yanoff v. Muncy, 688 N.E.2d 1259 (Ind. 1997) (standard of review for findings of fact and conclusions)
- Love v. Love, 10 N.E.3d 1005 (Ind. Ct. App. 2014) (presumption favoring equal division and review of marital property division as a whole)
- Hartley v. Hartley, 862 N.E.2d 274 (Ind. Ct. App. 2007) (factors for awarding attorney fees and trial court discretion)
- Fobar v. Vonderahe, 771 N.E.2d 57 (Ind. 2002) (marital property division is fact-sensitive)
- Morey v. Morey, 49 N.E.3d 1065 (Ind. Ct. App. 2016) (trial court valuation of marital assets reviewed for abuse of discretion)
- Beard v. Beard, 758 N.E.2d 1019 (Ind. Ct. App. 2001) (one-pot theory: all marital property subject to division)
- Barton v. Barton, 47 N.E.3d 368 (Ind. Ct. App. 2015) (trial court’s broad discretion in awarding attorney fees)