Crone, J.
Case Summary
Marjorie O. Lesley (“Wife”) and Robert T. Lesley (“Husband”) obtained a divorce. In the final dissolution decree, the trial court found that Wife did not present sufficient evidence to establish that she was entitled to incapacity maintenance, but indicated that it would reevaluate the issue if the Social Security Administration (“SSA”) determined that she was disabled. Subsequently, the SSA found that Wife was disabled, and she filed a petition with the trial court to revisit the issue of incapacity maintenance. The trial court then issued an order finding that Wife was entitled to rehabilitative maintenance from the time of the dissolution until the emancipation of the parties’ youngest child. Wife filed a motion to correct error, arguing that the trial court erred in granting her rehabilitative maintenance rather than incapacity maintenance. The trial court denied her motion.
Wife appeals the denial of her motion to correct error, arguing that the trial court erred in finding that she was entitled to rehabilitative maintenance rather than incapacity maintenance. Husband cross-appeals, arguing that the trial court did not have the authority to reevaluate its original decision not to grant Wife maintenance. We conclude that the Indiana Code requires the trial court to make a maintenance determination at the time that the final dissolution decree is entered. We further conclude that because the trial court found in the final dissolution decree that Wife failed to carry her burden to show that she was incapacitated, it did not have the authority to revisit the issue based upon a postdissolution decision from the SSA. Accordingly, we reverse the portion of the trial court’s order granting Wife maintenance and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion, including all necessary recalculations.
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Wife appeals the trial court’s decision to award her rehabilitative maintenance rather than incapacity maintenance. Husband cross-appeals, arguing that the trial court did not have the statutory authority, as a matter of law, to reevaluate its decision not to grant Wife postdissolution maintenance when it issued the dissolution decree. This is a question of first impression. Based on the statutory framework governing dissolution and maintenance, we agree with Husband.
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Reading these statutes together, it is clear that a trial court is to determine whether a spouse is entitled to maintenance at the time the dissolution decree is entered. Ind. Code §§ 31-15-7-1,-2. Indiana Code Section 31-15-7-2(1) and (2) require the court to make certain findings, before it considers whether maintenance is necessary. The spouse seeking maintenance has the burden of proving that he or she is entitled to maintenance. Matzat v. Matzat, 854 N.E.2d 918, 921 (Ind. Ct. App. 2006). If, at the time of dissolution, the trial court finds that a spouse has not satisfied the statutory criteria entitling him or her to maintenance, then that is the end of the matter. The dissolution decree is final. Ind. Code § 31-15-2-16(b). There is no statutory authority for the trial court to reevaluate, postpone, or defer its determination of whether a spouse meets the statutory criteria in Indiana Code Section 31-15-7-2 based on a decision or act of an outside entity that occurs after the final dissolution decree has been entered. If, at the time of dissolution, the trial court finds that a spouse has met the burden to establish the statutory criteria in Indiana Code Section 31-15-7-2, then the trial court “may” find that maintenance is necessary. The trial court’s power to award spousal maintenance is not mandatory but is wholly within the trial court’s discretion. Clokey v. Bosley Clokey, 956 N.E.2d 714, 718 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011). If the trial court finds in the final dissolution decree that spousal maintenance is necessary, then the trial court retains statutory authority to modify or revoke maintenance. Ind. Code § 31-15-7-3.
Turning to the facts at hand, Wife requested incapacity maintenance pursuant to Indiana Code Section 31-15-7-2(1). It was her burden to prove that she was physically or mentally incapacitated to the extent that her ability to support herself was materially affected. However, she failed to carry her burden. The trial court concluded that the evidence presented did not support a finding that Wife was entitled to receive maintenance from Husband and that “[n]o medical evidence has been presented on the Wife’s behalf to support her request for determination that she is medically physically unable to be employed.” Appellant’s App. at 26. In the final dissolution decree, the trial court found that Wife’s evidence was insufficient to establish that she was physically or mentally incapacitated to the extent that her ability to support herself was materially affected, and that determination is final. As a matter of law, the trial court could not retain authority to reevaluate, postpone, or defer that determination based on a subsequent decision from the SSA. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s award of rehabilitative maintenance to Wife and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion, including all necessary recalculations.
Reversed and remanded.
NAJAM, J., concurs.
BAKER, J., concurs with separate opinion.
BAKER, Judge, concurring.
I agree with the majority that the issue of spousal maintenance could not be revisited once the trial court entered the final dissolution decree. However, I write separately to explain how the trial court’s intent could have been properly effected.
Here, in the May 2011 decree, the trial court noted that Wife “obtained a degree in Occupational Leadership.” Appellant’s App. p. 39. The trial court also noted that Wife had not attempted to secure other employment and seemed dismissive of testimony that Wife could not find work that she could perform on a regular basis. Id. at 39-40. Therefore, I believe that the trial court attempted to reserve its right to reevaluate maintenance upon a determination by the Social Security Administration that Wife was disabled because it wanted access to the amount that Wife would receive in monthly benefits.
In the trial court’s order on Wife’s petition for maintenance, it ordered that Wife’s weekly Social Security disability payments of $425 be used as her weekly income for child support calculations. Id. at 11. Additionally, the trial court found that Wife was only entitled to three years of rehabilitative maintenance. Id.
Taking the decree and subsequent order together, it appears that rehabilitative maintenance is what the trial court continuously intended. That said, the better approach would have been for the trial court to have continued the May 2011 hearing until after there was a determination regarding Wife’s Social Security disability payments. I believe that the trial court attempted to reserve its rights to reevaluate maintenance upon a determination by the Social Security Administration because it wanted to know the amount that Wife would receive in monthly benefits. However, as the majority points out, the trial court forfeited such a reservation by entering the final decree when it did. Thus, while I concur with the majority, I write separately to discourage similar situations in the future.