## Facts

- Dawn Cloutier and Lorenzo Cloutier married in August 1987 and had three children.
- During the marriage, they bought land in Greene, Maine and built a marital residence on the property.
- Lorenzo’s father supplied funds to help the couple buy the land and finance construction, including money obtained through a mortgage on the father’s own home.
- Lorenzo and Dawn executed a promissory note to repay Lorenzo’s father.
- Dawn filed for divorce in September 2000.
- A case-management officer entered an interim order placing the children’s primary residence with Dawn in the marital home.
- The parties participated in mediation and signed a “points-of-agreement” form resolving many divorce issues; it stated the marital home would be sold and the proceeds used to pay debt.
- The mediated points of agreement were not presented to the court for approval and were not incorporated into any court order.
- When trial began in August 2001, Dawn asked the court to disregard the mediation agreement and award her the home.
- The trial court concluded the real-estate disposition was tied to other financial issues and treated the home’s disposition as an issue for a later hearing; the court then held a further hearing (after allowing time for preparation).
- The divorce judgment awarded the marital home and its proceeds to Dawn, and allocated responsibility for marital debts (including the obligation evidenced by the promissory note).
- Lorenzo appealed, arguing the court should have enforced the mediation agreement and should not have reopened the home-disposition issue after mediation and pretrial proceedings.

## Issues

1. Whether the divorce court abused its discretion by declining to enforce an unincorporated mediated “points-of-agreement” provision calling for sale of the marital home and instead awarding the home (and its proceeds) to Dawn.
2. Whether the divorce court abused its discretion or committed clear error by reopening the disposition of the real estate for litigation and allocating marital debt in connection with its property division.

## Decision

- The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine (Law Court) affirmed the divorce judgment.
- The trial court acted within its discretion in declining to enforce the mediated points of agreement because the agreement had not been incorporated into a court order and the court retained authority to make an equitable distribution.
- The trial court did not err by treating disposition of the marital residence as still at issue and receiving additional evidence before deciding the final distribution.
- The Law Court found no abuse of discretion or clear error in the resulting property and debt allocation, including the award of the home to Dawn.

## Legal Principles

- In divorce actions, the court has equitable authority to determine property division and related debt allocation; parties’ agreements are considered but do not control the court’s final judgment.
- A mediated “points-of-agreement” document that is not presented to the court and not incorporated into a court order is not binding on the court as a final disposition of marital property.
- Even when parties reach pretrial agreement, the court may decline to enforce it when necessary to reach an equitable result, including where the children’s living arrangements and fairness between spouses are implicated.
- Pretrial management steps do not remove the divorce court’s responsibility to decide property issues required for an equitable distribution.
- Appellate review of divorce property distribution and debt allocation is highly deferential; reversal requires clear error or an abuse of discretion.

## Conclusion

The Law Court affirmed a divorce judgment awarding the marital home to Dawn despite a prior mediated points-of-agreement form calling for sale of the home, holding that because the mediation document was never incorporated into a court order, the trial court retained discretion to reopen and decide the real-estate disposition and related debt allocation as part of an equitable distribution.


Cloutier v. Cloutier, 814 A.2d 979 (2003)