In Re Marriage Of Estes

929 P.2d 500 (1997)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

Ronald (H) filed a petition for dissolution in December 1993 after H and W had been married for 10 years. They have no children. H's gross income from his law practice in 1992 was $61,400. At the time of separation, he had accounts receivable of $77,689.90. In addition, he had been working on five or more personal injury cases in which his fee was contingent on the amount of any actual recovery. He testified in one case his client had made a settlement offer of $1.2 million, which had not yet been accepted or rejected. Because of the uncertainty of the outcome in any of his contingency fee cases, he testified that they had no value. W was employed in the banking industry during much of the marriage. W was employed as a part-time bank teller earning $7.25 per hour. The court found the rights to contingency fees had no value and awarded them to H. W moved for reconsideration, and following denial of her motion filed a notice of appeal. The decree of dissolution was entered on July 25, 1994. On September 6, 1994, H obtained a tentative settlement agreement, and he received a contingency fee of $178,640.72. H did not disclose the facts of the settlement prior to the trial court's ruling on W's motion for reconsideration. H found out in July 1995 and moved to vacate the dissolution decree, which was denied. This appeal followed.