Wojcik v. Wojcik (In re Marriage of Wojcik)

JUSTICE GRIFFIN delivered the opinion of the court.

Appeal from the Circuit Court of Cook County No. 05 D 12990 Honorable Mark Lopez, Judge Presiding. JUSTICE GRIFFIN delivered the opinion of the court.
Presiding Justice Mikva and Justice Walker concurred in the judgment and opinion.

¶ 1 Petitioner Sandra Wojcik and respondent Michael Wojcik agreed to dissolve their marriage in a marital settlement agreement. The settlement agreement provided that respondent pay financial support to petitioner for 60 months to support both the petitioner and the parties' then-minor child. After respondent made the payments for 60 months, petitioner requested that the court extend respondent's maintenance obligation. ¶ 2 Respondent argued that he had satisfied his support obligations under the marital settlement agreement and, thus, that the petition for maintenance should be dismissed. The trial court disagreed. A trial was held and respondent was ordered to pay permanent maintenance to petitioner. The trial court also ordered respondent to pay retroactive maintenance dating back to when the petition was filed and ordered respondent pay prejudgment interest on the retroactive maintenance award. We affirm the trial court's judgment on the issue of maintenance, but we reverse that part of the trial court's judgment that pertains to prejudgment interest.

¶ 4 Petitioner Sandra Wojcik and respondent Michael Wojcik married in 1978. They had three children during the course of the marriage. In 2005, petitioner filed a petition to dissolve the marriage. The parties entered into a marital settlement agreement, and the trial court entered a judgment dissolving the marriage that incorporated the parties' agreement. ¶ 5 During the marriage, petitioner was a stay-at-home mom for the most part. When respondent opened his insurance business, petitioner worked there for a few years. Around the time she filed for dissolution of the marriage, petitioner began studies to earn her master's degree. She received her master's degree right around the time the dissolution proceedings were wrapping up. ¶ 6 Under the dissolution judgment, petitioner received all of the parties' retirement and investment accounts valued at $644,289. Petitioner also received the parties' marital residence in which they had substantial equity and a vehicle. Respondent received the parties' condominium in Chicago and a townhouse they owned, both of which were subject to substantial mortgage obligations. Respondent retained his 25% interest in his parents' home. Respondent also received approximately 7,122 shares of stock in the Horton Group that had substantial value and two vehicles. Respondent continued to be employed during the course of the dissolution proceedings. income alone." The court gave "great weight to the 30 year duration of the marriage" and observed that petitioner's "ability to earn income was impaired by her domestic duties having foregone or delayed her education and employment," while respondent's career was able to thrive. Accordingly, the trial court found that petitioner was entitled to permanent maintenance in an amount ultimately determined to be $5,700 per month. The court also ordered respondent to pay $239,400 in retroactive maintenance plus prejudgment interest on that amount. Respondent appeals.

¶ 16 Respondent argues that the trial court erred when it denied his motion to dismiss the petition to set maintenance. Respondent maintains that he fulfilled his maintenance obligation under the dissolution judgment and, therefore, that the trial court lacked the authority to set a new support obligation. Respondent's motion to dismiss was brought under section 2-619 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure (735 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq. (West 2016)). ¶ 17 A section 2-619 motion to dismiss admits the legal sufficiency of the complaint. 735 ILCS 5/2-619 (West 2016). The purpose of a section 2-619 motion to dismiss is to dispose of issues of law and easily proved issues of fact at the outset of the litigation. In re Estate of Gallagher, 383 Ill. App. 3d 901, 903 (2008). Although a section 2-619 motion to dismiss admits the legal sufficiency of a complaint, it raises defects, defenses, or some other affirmative matter appearing on the face of the complaint or established by external submissions, that defeat the plaintiff's claim. Ball v. County of Cook, 385 Ill. App. 3d 103, 107 (2008). We review the trial court's decision on a motion to dismiss de novo. American Family Mutual Insurance Co. v. Tyler, 2016 IL App (1st) 153502, ¶ 9. she would be 18. See Blum v. Koster, 235 Ill. 2d 21, 35, 39 n. 2 (2009). When unallocated support is used in original agreement to denote both child support and maintenance, the trial court can extend just the maintenance portion of the obligation, reducing the overall support to reflect that child support is no longer included. Id. at 35-36. ¶ 27 The title of Article II in the settlement agreement here states that it concerns "maintenance." Paragraph 2.2 also makes clear that "[i]t is contemplated and understood by the parties that the Unallocated Family Support Payments provided to be paid by Michael to Sandra pursuant to paragraph 2.0 hereof are intended to be alimony payments ***." Respondent expressly waived his right to receive maintenance from petitioner, while petitioner made no such waiver of maintenance. There is nothing in the marital settlement agreement that prohibits petitioner from seeking or the trial court from considering whether maintenance payments should be extended beyond their initial term. ¶ 28 The general waivers in the marital settlement agreement similarly fail to bar petitioner from seeking extended support. The waiver provision does not preclude the parties from pursuing rights and remedies preserved under the agreement. As discussed at length above, respondent's support obligation to petitioner was expressly made reviewable, so petitioner did not waive her right to seek extended support.

¶ 30 Respondent argues that the trial court erred when it ordered him, based on the evidence adduced at trial, to pay permanent maintenance to petitioner. Although not addressed by the parties, we think it is important to restate that, when it comes to maintenance, "permanent" does not mean everlasting; it means the obligation is for an indefinite period. Shen v. Shen, 2015 IL App (1st) 130733, ¶ 84. Indefinite maintenance is commonly granted where the parties have circumstances change, respondent has the right to seek modification. See supra, ¶ 30. But the trial court's determination was based on current facts, not on the type of conjecture respondent interposes here. ¶ 39 Respondent contends that petitioner is capable of supporting herself in the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage. To support his position, respondent argues that, during the period between the unallocated family support obligation lapsing and the trial for maintenance, petitioner lived as she did during the marriage. The trial court disagreed, stating that even in consideration of the assets petitioner received in the divorce and "considering the lifestyle the parties enjoyed during the marriage that even with Sandra's imputed income she can never achieve the level of income that would allow her to maintain the lifestyle the parties enjoyed during the marriage on her income alone." The amount awarded was supported by the evidence. There is nothing in the record that would permit us to find that no reasonable person could take the view adopted by the trial court.

¶ 41 The trial court held that petitioner was entitled to statutory interest on the retroactive maintenance award. The trial court held that petitioner was entitled to prejudgment interest from the time the petition for maintenance was filed until the final judgment on that petition was entered—about a 40-month period. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/101 et seq. (West 2016)) provides that "[a]ny maintenance obligation including any unallocated maintenance and child support obligation, or any portion of any support obligation, that becomes due and remains unpaid shall accrue simple interest as set forth in Section 505 of this Act." 750 ILCS 5/504 (b-5) (West 2016). ¶ 42 Neither party has pointed us to a case in which this issue has been addressed. Under the circumstances, we hold that prejudgment interest on the retroactive maintenance award is not warranted. The statute states that interest accrues on a support obligation that "becomes due and remains unpaid." Id. In this case, the retroactive maintenance award did not become due and cannot be considered unpaid until the point that the trial court entered the judgment modifying and extending respondent's support obligation. ¶ 43 Respondent put forth a good faith argument that his support obligations had terminated under the terms of the marital settlement agreement. The trial court decided to extend and modify the support obligation, but respondent could not have known what the trial court would do until it acted, nor could he have known the amount to pay. The award of continued maintenance was to be made in the trial court's discretion. Blum, 235 Ill. 2d at 36 (an order to extend or modify maintenance will not be disturbed absent a clear abuse of discretion). In fact, respondent was successful in getting the trial court to reduce the maintenance award in a motion to reconsider. So it is not as if respondent was breaching a known, static obligation. Respondent was not unjustifiably withholding money from petitioner. The obligation did not "become due" until the trial court entered a final order that it was due. The obligation was not "unpaid" until the trial court set the amount and ordered that it be paid. Therefore, the trial court erred in ordering respondent to pay prejudgment interest on the retroactive maintenance award. Nothing in this opinion affects postjudgment interest.

¶ 45 Accordingly, we affirm the trial court's order modifying and extending respondent's support obligation. We reverse the trial court's order holding that respondent is required to pay prejudgment interest. ¶ 46 Affirmed in part, reversed in part.