Conner v. ConnerConner v. Conner
Again we have before us for review a decision from the trial court concerning the dissolution of the Conner marriage. Earlier, we reversed the trial court’s judgment of dissolution on the basis of our dеtermination that the wife had been “shortchanged.” Conner v. Conner,
... for a further finding of fact as to what special equity, if any, the ex-wife has in property titled in the ex-husband’s name as a result of her contributions to his business and political success.
Id.
On remand the triаl court reconsidered the record and heard arguments from both parties. The court found
... that although the wife made contributions to her husband’s political success, she did not have a vested interest in any particular property in the strict sense of the term “special equity.”
The court went on to explain that it had already considered the “nature and extent” of her contribution in fashioning a plan of equitable distribution of the parties’ property “in the spirit of Canakaris v. Canakaris _”
In the instant aрpeal, the wife has seized upon the court’s use of the phrase “vested interest in any pаrticular property” to argue that the trial court was under the erroneous impression that it hаd to trace the wife’s “special contributions” to a specific piece of prоperty before it could make a finding that a special equity in that property existed in the wife’s favor. Additionally, the wife argues that the trial court made an impermissible distinction between her contributions to the husband’s business as opposed to her contributions made to his political sucсess, the latter being irrelevant to or of little import in the finding of a special equity. We disagreе with the wife’s contentions, and decline to accord the trial court’s supplemental order so narrow an interpretation.
The supreme court, in its Canakaris opinion, defined “special equity” as meaning “a vested intеrest in property brought into the marriage or acquired during the
The remaining issues on appeal regard whether the trial court еrred in refusing to consider new evidence of the husband’s present net worth, and whether it abused its discrеtion in failing to award additional attorney’s fees at the trial level and fees on the basis of thе wife’s original appeal to this Court. As regards the husband’s financial position, the evidence of changed circumstances would have been relevant only had the hearing been on a рetition for modification. Below, by supreme court mandate, the court was bound to considеr only the evidence contained in the original record.
In regard to the attorney’s fees, again, the issue of additional fees at the trial level would have been relevant only had the сourt redistributed property to such an extent as to “materially change the parties’ abilities to bear their own or the other party’s attorney’s fees.” Id. Since the court did not redistribute the рroperty, it did not abuse its discretion in not awarding additional fees.
Similarly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in failing to award appellate fees. In our first opinion, we directed the trial court to assess the amount of appellate fees to which the wife was entitled, to be paid by the husband. Conner,
For the foregoing reasons, the trial court’s supplemental order is in all respects
AFFIRMED.