Opinion
DA 11-0321
05-29-2012
IN RE THE MARRIAGE OF: DAWN ELIZABETH LEWTON, Petitioner and Appellee, and JOHN EDWARD LEWTON, Respondent and Appellant.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CASE
John Lewton and Dawn Lewton were married for over 20 years and had four children. During their marriage, the parties operated five businesses related to John's internationally-recognized taxidermy expertise and acquired significant assets. The District Court distributed their rental property, land, and most of the businesses to John; ordered one business and other land to be sold with the proceeds divided equally between the parties; awarded the significant portion of the parties' non-business assets to Dawn; and awarded Dawn attorney fees and back child support. John appealed and argued that the District Court erred by failing to make a finding of the net worth of the marital estate, in apportioning the marital estate between the parties, and in awarding attorney fees and back child support to Dawn.
The Supreme Court affirmed the District Court. The Court acknowledged the general rule that a district court must determine the net value of the marital estate, but held that such a valuation is not always mandatory. Rather, the test to be applied is whether the findings as a whole are sufficient to determine whether the property distribution is equitable. After reviewing the District Court's findings, the Court concluded that, while the District Court did not specifically value all of the marital assets and businesses, its findings were sufficient to determine that the property distribution was equitable. Also, the District Court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney fees to Dawn after considering the parties' financial resources and John's behavior during the proceeding, or in awarding $26,000 in back child support to Dawn.