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Seitz v. Seitz3/22/2005
(not designated for permanent publication)
INTRODUCTION
James H. Seitz appeals from a dissolution decree entered by the district court for Douglas County, dissolving the marriage between James and Christine M. Seitz. James contends that the district court erred in its division of the marital estate by allowing Christine a credit for property alleged to be non-marital, failing to give him credit for personal injury settlement proceeds, and failing to value Christine's jewelry properly and adjust the marital estate accordingly.
BACKGROUND
James and Christine were married on July 11, 1991. The marriage produced no children. Christine filed a petition for dissolution of the marriage on May 23, 2002. The sole issue before the district court at the March 19, 2003, dissolution trial was the division of marital assets. Both Christine and James testified at the trial. The following is a summary of the testimony and exhibits relevant to this appeal:
It was uncontested that prior to their marriage, Christine owned a townhouse, and that the townhouse was subsequently sold during the course of their marriage. Christine testified that she used the $33,000 profit realized from the sale of the townhouse as the downpayment on their marital home and that that amount should therefore be credited to her as non-marital property. Christine offered two documents in support of her position: an unsigned and undated estimate of the net proceeds to be realized by the unidentified seller of an unidentified property and an estimated closing statement on the marital home. James testified that during the time he lived with Christine in the townhouse, both before and after their marriage, he made substantial improvements to the townhouse. The improvements included finishing the basement, wallpapering, landscaping the exterior, and installing tile, cabinets, and shelving. James estimated that he expended approximately $5,000 of his own money and increased the value of the townhouse, and therefore, he asked the court to take his contributions into account in deciding how much, if any, credit to give Christine for the $33,000 downpayment.
The parties testified that each had received personal injury settlement awards during their marriage and that Christine had also received an award as the result of a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Christine testified that James' total awards amounted to approximately $13,000 more than her own. Christine alleged that the proceeds from their awards were deposited into joint accounts and used to pay marital expenses and that it would be difficult to trace the individual awards. James, however, alleged that he could trace $23,214 in proceeds from his personal injury settlements to his purchase of a 1999 Ford truck and $34,706 of his settlement proceeds to paying off the mortgage on the marital home. James argued that the truck should be considered non-marital property and that he should receive credit for having paid off the mortgage on the marital home with his settlement proceeds.
In support of his allegation regarding the purchase of the truck, James offered the closing statements from two of his personal injury suits, reflecting awards in the amounts of $10,992.87 and $12,883.21, and a bank statement showing the deposit of the $12,883.21 settlement award and a $23,214 withdrawal. According to a handwritten note on the bank statement, the withdrawal was used to purchase the 1999 Ford truck. With regard to the mortgage on the marital home, James presented the closing statement from a personal injury settlement reflecting a $34,706.12 award, a statement for the mortgage showing a payoff balan
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