In Re Marriage of McNeill

Wife appeals from judgments in a consolidated civil action and a proceeding for dissolution of marriage.

Wife represented many material facts to husband during their six-year marriage. She told him she was an attorney, had a master's degree in accounting, and was suffering from cancer. Further she led him to believe there was an outstanding premarital judgment against her which she said could affect their assets. All were lies.

Husband owned a residence before the marriage. Shortly thereafter, title was changed by grant deed from his name alone to "Samuel Blair McNeill III, and Jo B. McNeill, Husband and Wife." Two years later, husband, upon wife's urging and believing she needed complete rest and quiet because of alleged chemotherapy treatments, moved out of the home. The next year wife told husband she had only 90 days to live and encouraged him to execute documents she had prepared transferring their assets to a trust. Husband, relying on wife's legal and tax expertise and allegations of her imminent death, signed all of the documents. In fact, wife had presented husband with a marital settlement agreement transferring almost all of his assets to her…

Wife appeals from judgments in a consolidated civil action and a proceeding for dissolution of marriage.

*555 Wife represented many material facts to husband during their six-year marriage. She told him she was an attorney, had a master’s degree in accounting, and was suffering from cancer. Further she led him to believe there was an outstanding premarital judgment against her which she said could affect their assets. All were lies.

Husband owned a residence before the marriage. Shortly thereafter, title was changed by grant deed from his name alone to “Samuel Blair McNeill III, and Jo B. McNeill, Husband and Wife.” Two years later, husband, upon wife’s urging and believing she needed complete rest and quiet because of alleged chemotherapy treatments, moved out of the home. The next year wife told husband she had only 90 days to live and encouraged him to execute documents she had prepared transferring their assets to a trust. Husband, relying on wife’s legal and tax expertise and allegations of her imminent death, signed all of the documents. In fact, wife had presented husband with a marital settlement agreement transferring almost all of his assets to her and a grant…

I concur in the result. The trial court’s decision to consolidate the civil action with the dissolution petition is troubling because the former included requests for mental distress and punitive damages. These claims inevitably must be supported by testimony inimical to the no fault concept of the Family Law Act. Since the majority has stricken the mental distress damages and correctly concluded the punitive damages awarded are reasonable, consolidation in this case caused no harm.

In general, however, consolidation of a civil action and a dissolution petition should only be allowed when claims other than intentional torts are at issue. Marvin claims, contract disputes or disagreements concerning the characterization of property can properly be addressed in a consolidated proceeding because they do not raise questions of fault or involve emotional fingerpointing.

A petition for a rehearing was denied October 16, 1984, and appellant’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied December 19, 1984.