Summary 2010 WY 78

Summary of Decision issued June 15, 2010

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Case Name: Sanning v. Sanning

Citation: 2010 WY 78

Docket Number: S-09-0202

Appeal from the District Court of Albany County, the Honorable Jeffrey A. Donnell, Judge.

Representing Lee Sanning: C.M. Aron of Aron & Hennig, LLP, Laramie, Wyoming.

Representing Jamison Sanning: Devon P. O’Connell of Pence and MacMillan LLC, Laramie, Wyoming.

Facts/Discussion: The district court awarded a cabin to Jamison (Wife) as part of the property distribution incorporated into the parties’ divorce decree. Lee (Husband) claimed the district court abused its discretion by relying upon sentimental value to award the cabin to Wife and the court’s factual findings regarding the cabin were not supported by the trial evidence.
Wife’s grandparents owned a cabin located on state land adjacent to Priest Lake in Idaho. When grandparents were in their eighties they decided to dispose of the cabin because it had become too expensive and difficult to maintain. The Sannings purchased it for $50,000 using money from Husband’s family. When the Sannings filed for divorce they could not agree on the distribution of the marital property. Husband claimed the district court improperly awarded the cabin based upon sentimental value. He argued that Broyles v. Broyles prohibited consideration of sentimental value in awarding property. Although Broyles states that sentimental value may not typically be used to establish damages for property wrongfully converted, it does not state that sentimental value cannot be considered in awarding property in a divorce case. In Wallop v. Wallop, the Court reviewed a property distribution that included awarding the husband a ranch that had belonged to his family for many years. Similarly, in the instant case, the district court considered the statutory factors when it awarded the cabin to Wife.

Conclusion: The district court specifically stated that it was considering the statutory factors and there was nothing in the record to indicate otherwise. Under these circumstances, the award of the cabin to Wife does not shock the conscience of the Court nor appear to be so unfair and inequitable that reasonable people cannot abide it. The district court properly exercised its discretion when it awarded the cabin to Wife, on the condition that she reimburses Husband for the money gifted by his family to purchase the cabin.

Affirmed.

J. Kite delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/2fdww2k .

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