Ex-wife loses Nebraska bid to protect alimony

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By NATE JENKINS / The Associated Press

The ex-wife of a meatpacking plant executive can’t force her ex-husband to take a physical so she can buy a $1 million life insurance policy on him, the state Supreme Court ruled on Friday.

Mary Kay Davis wants the policy as security for alimony and child-support payments totaling more than $1.5 million in the event her former husband, Henry Alan Davis, dies prematurely. He is chief executive of Greater Omaha Packing Co.

Her attorney argued that a Douglas County district judge erred last year in not granting a motion that would have required Henry Davis to take the physical.

But the high court upheld the decision, pointing to a state law the court said requires that a person agree to having a policy on his or her own life. Exams typically are a prerequisite to establish the person’s eligibility for insurance.

“We recognize that courts often compel parties in a marital dissolution ... to perform acts that would otherwise require their consent,” Judge William Connolly wrote in the high court’s opinion. “But a court is not free to ignore a legislative requirement of affirmative consent.”

The Davises’ divorce took three years to litigate, with the decree entered in November 2006.

Henry was required to pay $12,500 a month in alimony for 106 months and $5,000 a month in support for the two young children. He also must provide health insurance for the children and pay their uncovered medical expenses.

Henry has testified that he already has bought a $1 million policy to fund a trust he set up as part of the couple’s property settlement. Henry has said the trust, in addition to Social Security payments, would provide for their two children if he dies before they reach 19, the age of majority in Nebraska.

William Dittrick, who is Mary Kay Davis’ attorney, has said in court papers that the insurance policy she is seeking is necessary because Henry has offered no documentation to show the existence of a $1 million policy to fund the trust — a point Henry disputes.

“Obviously we’re disappointed,” Dittrick said of the high court’s decision on Friday. “We respect the opinion of the Supreme Court. We’re reviewing other avenues to pursue with regards to security for payments of future child support.”

Dittrick said Henry has not failed to meet his child support and alimony obligations thus far.

But Dittrick has said it would be doubtful Mary Kay Davis could find a job that would allow her to make up for lost income if Henry were to die.

Henry’s attorney, John Slowiaczek, has pointed out that Mary Kay Davis, on her own, has considerable resources.

He has said she has about $2.3 million in investments and that she received $1 million in cash from Henry 30 days after their divorce. Her home, Slowiaczek wrote in court papers, is paid off and is worth between $525,000 and $900,000.

Slowiaczek said Mary Kay Davis has no outstanding debt, her $175,000 in attorney fees were paid by Henry and that she received ownership of her Jaguar, her clothing, her jewelry and her personal effects as part of the property settlement.

“By her own testimony, appellant’s net worth is in excess of $4 million,” Slowiaczek wrote.