Marriage of Greenway
After 48 years of marriage, Lyle B. Greenway (Lyle) sought legal separation from Joann Greenway (Joann).[1] At first, Joann filed a response also seeking legal separation, but later she objected to ending the marriage or dividing the estate valued at several million dollars. She asserted Lyle was mentally incompetent and their son, Kurt Greenway (Kurt) was controlling the situation. The parties agreed to have the matter heard by retired judge Thomas R. Murphy on the sole issue of whether Lyle was capable of making a reasoned decision regarding his marital status. The trial court reviewed written arguments and heard testimony from Lyle, Joann, their three adult children, Lyle’s elder law attorney, the family accountant, and four health care professionals who had evaluated and assessed Lyle’s mental state. The court determined Lyle was mentally capable of making a reasoned decision to end his marriage. The court granted Lyle’s request for status-only dissolution of his marriage to Joann.
On appeal, Joann asserts: (1) the record does not contain sufficient evidence that irreconcilable differences resulted in an irremediable breakdown of the marriage; (2) there was insufficient evidence Lyle had the capacity to understand the meaning of the concepts critical to the dissolution of a marriage; and (3) the court’s conclusions regarding Lyle’s dementia are not supported by substantial evidence. We conclude Joann’s arguments lack merit, and we affirm the court’s ruling.
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