## Facts

- Kevin D. Fugere owned and operated a large farm and ranch operation in western North Dakota and had a net worth exceeding $3 million when the parties married, largely tied to the ranch.
- Marie E. Fugere was the Belfield postmaster and earned about $60,000 per year; she filed for bankruptcy in early 2009.
- As the parties planned to marry in 2009, Kevin presented proposed prenuptial agreements; no prenuptial agreement was ultimately signed.
- The parties married in August 2009, moved in together on Kevin’s ranch, and had no children.
- Marie brought into the marriage a Thrift Savings Plan account of roughly $100,000 and some personal property.
- Kevin continued to work full time and remained primarily responsible for the ranch’s operations.
- Marie disliked her postmaster job because it limited her ability to take time off and caused stress; she quit her job with Kevin’s support.
- After quitting, Marie became primarily responsible for household chores and helped to a limited extent with ranch work.
- During the marriage, Marie experienced significant mental-health and substance-use problems, including excessive drinking and two suicide attempts, and she received treatment.
- After about three and a half years of marriage, Marie left the ranch in January 2013 following a quarrel; Kevin filed for divorce later that month.
- By the time of divorce, the ranch had increased substantially in value. After trial, the district court found the net value of the marital estate was nearly $5.85 million.
- The district court awarded Kevin property with a net value of $5,688,215, reasoning that he brought the ranch into the marriage and was primarily responsible for the ranch’s appreciation in value.
- The district court awarded Marie property valued at $161,662 and a $105,000 cash award to compensate her for household responsibilities and limited ranch help; the cash award was reduced by $24,000 Kevin had already paid under interim orders.
- The district court also awarded Marie rehabilitative spousal support of $1,550 per month for five years.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court clearly erred by awarding Kevin the overwhelming majority of the marital estate in a short-term marriage, including most of the appreciation in the ranch’s value.
2. Whether the district court abused its discretion or made clearly erroneous findings in awarding Marie rehabilitative spousal support of limited amount and duration.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of North Dakota affirmed the divorce judgment.
- The court held the district court’s property distribution in this short marriage was not clearly erroneous, even though it was highly unequal.
- The court upheld the rehabilitative spousal support award as within the district court’s discretion and supported by the record.

## Legal Principles

- North Dakota divides marital property equitably, not necessarily equally, and applies the Ruff–Fischer factors to determine an equitable distribution.
- A district court may, in a short-term marriage, make an unequal division and largely award each party what that party brought into the marriage.
- There is no rule requiring a district court to equally divide any increase in the parties’ net worth that occurred during the marriage.
- Property division findings are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard; appellate courts do not reweigh evidence or substitute their judgment for the trial court’s.
- Spousal support awards (including rehabilitative support) are reviewed for an abuse of discretion and are evaluated in light of the parties’ needs, earning abilities, and the overall property distribution.
- Affirming a property distribution in one divorce case does not create a rule requiring similar distributions in future cases; the determination remains fact-specific.

## Conclusion

The North Dakota Supreme Court affirmed a divorce judgment that awarded Kevin nearly all of a multimillion-dollar estate where the marriage lasted only about three and a half years and Kevin brought the ranch into the marriage and remained chiefly responsible for its operation and growth; the court also affirmed a compensatory cash award and limited rehabilitative spousal support to Marie as an appropriate, fact-based application of equitable distribution and support principles.


Fugere v. Fugere, 865 N.W.2d 407 (2015)