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A trial court correctly awarded a Delaware County man 62% of a marital estate in a divorce case, the Court of Appeals of Indiana ruled Monday in affirming the court’s determination to divide the estate in the husband’s favor.
According to court records, Lela Jo Boucher and Dennis J. Doyle married in 2017.
At the time Doyle owned four bank accounts at Indiana Member’s Credit Union, stock in Southern Company, a timeshare in Tennessee, funds which were ultimately rolled into Edward Jones IRAs, a retirement savings account at Fidelity, and certain personal property.
Boucher owned the home that they shared, an Edwards Jones IRA and certain personal property.
Doyle began working for Citizens Energy Group in 2016 and was making $85,000 a year.
For the first 18 months of the marriage, Boucher worked for an in-home healthcare company making $59,000 per year. In June of 2018, she voluntarily left her employment.
From June 2018 to the date of separation, Doyle paid all the parties’ expenses.
After Boucher left her employment, she obtained her real estate license in 2020. She sold real estate in 2020 and 202, but had an actual net loss in income.
In 2021, Doyel filed a petition for the dissolution of marriage and Boucher filed a cross-petition.
In April 2022, the Delaware Circuit Court ordered the parties to participate in mediation, which was ultimately unsuccessful.
A year later, the trial court held the final hearing.
At the time Boucher was 65 years old and related that in 2017 she had rolled over about $150,000 in funds into her Edward Jones IRA. She also testified that in 2022, she netted $12,000 from her real estate dealings but that she did not expect her income to increase due to the market.
While the dissolution of marriage was pending, Boucher did not seek out any additional employment to supplement her earnings from her real estate dealings.
Boucher requested a 50/50 split of the marital estate.
Doyle testified that, at the time, the approximate value of his bank and retirement accounts was $500,000.
He requested that each party be awarded the property and investments brought into the marriage, which would result in him receiving 62% of the marital estate, while Boucher would receive 38%.
In June 2023, the trial court entered its decree of dissolution dividing the parties’ marital estate.
The trial court awarded each party the assets, retirement accounts, and real property each had owned before the marriage and divided the parties’ other property, resulting in the husband receiving 62% of the marital estate and the wife receiving 38%
Boucher appealed and presented the court with one issue, which was whether the trial court’s deviation from the presumptive equal division of the marital estate was clearly erroneous.
The appellate court affirmed the trial court’s division and found that Boucher failed in her argument.
The appellate court stated that Doyle had brought the majority of assets into the marriage, that neither party had contributed during the marriage to Doyle’s Edward Jones IRAs and that Boucher had substantial earning capability.
The court was also unpersuaded by Boucher’s argument that the trial court’s finding she had a higher earning ability than Doyle was not supported by the evidence.
“The trial court did not find that Wife’s earning capability was superior to Husband’s; rather, it found that, given her education, it ‘can be’ superior to Husband’s, a consideration which Wife does not contend was improper, and it was determined that Wife was underemployed,” the opinion stated.
The opinion concluded by agreeing with the trial court’s finding that Boucher was underemployed was supported by the evidence.
“Wife’s argument on this issue otherwise consists of directing our attention to her version of events and to evidence that does not support the judgment, both of which are contrary to our standard of review,” Judge Patricia Riley wrote.
Judges Terry Crone and Paul Mathias concurred in Lela Jo Boucher v. Dennis J. Doyle, 23A-DN-1534.
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