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Court: Husband must share millions with ex-wife

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BY NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star

Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008 - 05:12:38 pm CDT

A husband who didn’t reveal a a future multimillion dollar bonus during his divorce trial must share that bonus with his ex-wife, according to a Nebraska Court of Appeals decision released Tuesday.

During his 2005 divorce proceedings in Douglas County, Phillip Myhra — executive vice president for the health insurance company UICI — was asked a broad question that included knowledge of any awards.

Phillip Myhra failed to disclose that his employer had entered into a merger agreement entitling him to a bonus from a $20 million pool, according to the appellate court decision.

His wife, Debra Myhra, didn’t learn about the bonus until after the October 2005 divorce trial ended — but before a divorce decree had been issued.

Douglas County District Court Judge James T. Gleason allowed her to reopen the case to provide information about the $3.378 million bonus and the additional $2.4 million her husband received from cashed-out stock options and sold stock.

The district court included the bonus and stock sale in the property division.

The appellate court upheld the district court’s decision to give Debra Myhra a $2 million judgement, almost a half-million in marital assets and $3,000 a month in alimony until she reaches 65.

Phillip Myhra received about $7.8 million of the marital property, which included the bonus.

The higher court agreed that giving the wife one-third of the property was fair given her “substantial contributions” to the marriage over nearly 30 years.

The court also determined the merger bonus was based on Phillip Myhra’s cumulative efforts as an executive vice president during the years they were married.

The appellate court also upheld the lower court’s decision to reopen the case even after the trial ended.

The district court found Phillip Myhra had “knowingly concealed information about the merger bonus from his wife and the court,” according to the opinion.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.


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Eric wrote on August 19, 2008 5:54 pm:
" If the tables had been turned and she concealed the bonus nothing would have happened since we all know women get all the breaks in divorce and custody cases in Nebraska. "

 Burned wrote on August 19, 2008 6:54 pm:
" Sorry Eric it may seem that way but I as a female got a really bad deal. He took everything and later took the child away from me. No I was not the party at fault but I did not have enough money to hire the right attorney.All so I feared enough for my safety I was willing to not fight just to not have any harm come to myself. It comes down to the spouse who is more dis honest and mean. So do not be bitter just be happy to go on with a second chance at a better life. I am happy this lady got a share after 30 years she earned it. Women give up a lot to help a man be succesful. "

 CS wrote on August 19, 2008 7:49 pm:
" So which is it? Are women liberated or not? My wife has given up little to nothing to 'help me be successful'. She works her own job and makes her own money, though less, by choice because we TOGETHER do not believe in daycare. She had her degree first-if she found a job that made as much as I do, then she would further her career and I would stay home. I disagree that being married to a more successful spouse constitutes 'giving up something' or 'earning it'. It's more like playing the lottery and winning. There are few cases of women that are truly overshadowed by their husbands so much that they could not do anything for themselves, yet suddenly they are helpless in divorce court. "

 wow wrote on August 19, 2008 8:33 pm:
" you people are rude!! "

 ChaChing wrote on August 19, 2008 9:05 pm:
" Good for her ! Men always think they can get by with everything during a divorce , this just proves ..they can`t ! I hope she takes the best vacation of her life, all on his money lol ! "

 DOC wrote on August 20, 2008 6:10 am:
" Hmmmm. The truth will find you out. He may be lucky that he didn't have to serve time for perjury. "

 MEN.......WOW wrote on August 20, 2008 7:28 am:
" FYI....I am a single parent..working full time and going to school. The courts wouldnt give me full custody of my child although his father is a man with no "legal" job and a horrible role model for my child. He pays nothing for his child. Perhaps if I were able to fork out the money to pay for a lawyer I would have more options. But my $700 a month daycare cost doenst allow for that. I definitely didnt get a break in this case being a female...

I am happy for this woman. She deserves the money, especially because her ex tried to hide it from her. Karma....it will get you everytime! "

 I think wrote on August 20, 2008 8:44 am:
" the situations have more to do with PEOPLE then whether the person is male or female. "

 Lydia wrote on August 20, 2008 9:35 am:
" Oh my. Enough of the sexist comments. Rather a woman is liberated or not. Or a stay at home mother. Or a father works full time, earns a lot of cash, or is a stay at home father. It doesn't matter. The court did what they felt was just. I don't receive my child support either, but at the same time, I am proud of how hard I work to provide for my children. We should have pride in ourselves. "

 Lucky wrote on August 20, 2008 9:46 am:
" 2.5 million....If this woman would have worked 40 hours a week the 30 years that she was married and was paid by the hour she would have been making over 40 bucks an hour. That does not count all the money she spent in the past 30 years. But hey she worked hard and he could not have done it without her...lol "

 Yup wrote on August 20, 2008 9:48 am:
" The courts knew it was dishonest to hide the money from them. Everything has to be out in the open. This isn't about the woman getting a break or winning the lottery, it's about the law. He was dishonest in not telling the court when they asked. She contributed to the marriage for 30 years, she is entitled to the money. "

 oh please wrote on August 20, 2008 9:50 am:
" None of us really knows anything about this, except what this one item reports. I have no idea if she deserves the money or not, I don't even know if he deserved his bonus. And the more I consider it, the less I care. Know the person before you marry them. Leopard's don't change their spots. "

 Deserve wrote on August 20, 2008 9:51 am:
" She deserves it? He was the one out there working and earning the bonus. Just because they were married doesn't mean she was making some grandiose sacrifice. For all we know she played tennis, shopped and watched TV every day of their marriage, leaching off of him while a housekeeper kept the house and a nanny raised their kids.
I do feel bad for the women posting here that have deadbeat dads with whom to deal. If you are a father, you need to take responsibility and make sure you get and keep a job so you can support your family. "

 Well aware wrote on August 20, 2008 11:00 am:
" Its not only a divorice problem. As a woman I worked day and half the
night for 44.years. After 36 yrs our company was sold and my boss went
to another company and begged me to come there and take early retirement
from the 1st company. I was this "extremely" important employee that when
I did go to the other company at his urging, my salary was REDUCED while
his went up to the millions plus options and bonsus. After 8 yrs I
gave 3 weeks notice and retired, no gift, no extra pay, no nothing. Barely
said, "thank you". His millions didn't get him too far though, he hired
a CPA for my replacement who wouldn't work and fouled up what was done,
so my X-boss took early retirement, and after about a year had a heart
attack and died. I don't know, maybe he took his millions with him to
the grave!!!! "

 They were partners wrote on August 20, 2008 12:04 pm:
" 50/50. The fact that they married shows that intent. If he didn't expect to share, he should have disolved the marriage contract before he became so prosperous. That's the breaks. "

 Lynette wrote on August 20, 2008 12:36 pm:
" I think blaming gender here is unfair. I've seen really good fathers get the shaft for child custody next to deadbeat mothers in this state. However, my mother worked over in her divorce case. I think it has to do with the individuals involved. Two people at the end of their rope with the other and tempers are obviously going to flare but in the end, you can't blame women or men generally for the actions of a few of each. "

 My thoughts wrote on August 20, 2008 12:54 pm:
" I say if you get married you are deciding to join your lives together as one. If the marraige ends, then everything needs to be split 50/50 as far as assets and debt goes. THEN, work on the custody arrangements and if someone has to pay child support then so be it. Maybe it's because my husband and I don't have a whole lot that I feel this way but whenever we see stories like this we look at each other in amazement. The both of us think the only fair thing in a sad situation like divorce is to do it 50/50. Of course, a lot of divorce lawyers don't see it that way and that causes a lot of the turmoil in these types of proceedings. (I watched my parents go through this earlier this year. Started off amicable enough, then they got seperate attorneys and it was like...let the games begin!) "

 Husker Girl wrote on August 20, 2008 1:07 pm:
" To "Deserve" - do you KNOW she played tennis all day and left the kids and the house to nannies and a housekeeper? My sister is married to an executive. She has been the primary care giver to their 3 kids. Her husband is never home. He works 18 hour days and is often out of the country. Well, guess who else works 18 hour days? SHE DOES. She plays the roll of nanny, housekeeper, lawn caretaker, chauffer, chef, phychologist, personal shopper, doctor, mediator.... and the list goes on. That is what constitutes "her part of the marriage". Give it a try. Take a couple of weeks off work and take care of your own kids. Don't call on others for help. YOu have to do it yourself. Wake them up, get them ready, cook healthy meals, make sure they have appropriate clothes to wear, take them to their activities, shop for groceries, clean the house, do laundry and put it away, pick them up, cook more meals, make sure they do their homework, put them to bed, and clean once again. ALL BY YOURSELF. Then be ready to wake up in the middle of the nite if one is crying, take care of them if they are ill. If you really think wives have it easy, then you need a reality check. "

 M H wrote on August 20, 2008 1:22 pm:
" once again, she got the gold mine, he got the shaft. face it, there is no such thing as fair, the man earns it, she spends it, before marriage, during marriage and afterwards.
men, when will we finally say we have had enough of the double standard! i say if they want money, get off their dead beat rear ends and go make it the way we men do. "

 Eddie wrote on August 20, 2008 2:50 pm:
" When a woman who is making 40,000.00 a year dates a multi-million aire is he responsible to share his money with her? So why should he give her alimony after they are divorced.. "

 CS wrote on August 20, 2008 4:49 pm:
" What is your point, Husker Girl? That sounds like a parent to me-and you inherit those responsibilities regardless of how rich your spouse may be. Lousy parenting on the part of your friends husband, perhaps, but her situation is no different than that of any other parent so you have failed to convince me of anything other than they shouldn't have had children if it is such a burden. "

 David wrote on August 20, 2008 4:51 pm:
" This is the perfect reason to never consider getting married. It is doubtfull her "share" of the marriage added as much value as his. Why would women ever consider going to college and improving themselves when all they need to do is "catch" (using the standard bait) a man like this? "

 sue wrote on August 20, 2008 5:06 pm:
" I want a refund on my health insurance. What kind of bonus is that anyway? "

 Mo mom wrote on August 20, 2008 6:20 pm:
" Congratulations' to this lady. More of us should fight for what we believe in, instead of sitting back and getting trampled for 26 yrs. like I have. Good luck !!! "

 bitter wrote on August 20, 2008 7:55 pm:
" Eric, you are full of it. My ex didn't claim all of his income in our divorce, then had the nerve to come back and sue me for child support during a few months that I was between jobs. Guess what? I had to pay it!
Since I had moved out of state, and he had a lawyer, I had no choice.
So I say GOOD FOR HER!!! "

 Wow wrote on August 20, 2008 9:37 pm:
" Ever wonder why your insurance premiums keep going up? $3 million dollar bonus??? For what? "

 Go Girl wrote on August 20, 2008 11:56 pm:
" You go girl!!!!! I am a divorcee. In my case I came out ahead because I got the kids. To me I reaped the benifits. We had nothing. He was a drug dealer, addict, etc. He had no reason to get the kids. This was back in 1989. To this day he still is a dealer and an addict, the kids are grown, and he still owes us $52,000 in back child support. Hope this guy in the story pays her what she deserves. Go luck to you!! "

 wake up wrote on August 21, 2008 7:21 am:
" First of all since when is getting 7.8 million dollars translated as getting the shaft? He got 7.8 million dollars of the marital assets, she got 2.5 million which included the settlement and marital assets. Yes, she also got 3,000 per month in alimony which could amount to no more than 612,000. (if they were married at 18). This brings her grnd total to a little over 3 million and his to a little over 7 million. Sounds like he still gets twice as much as her, not quit the shaft. Quit complaining and whining and realize marriage is joining two people as one--yep this includes earnings and bonuses too. Live with it or live alone! "

 Angie wrote on August 21, 2008 8:22 am:
" I think that it is soo funny to see a lot of what you people write in here. I have worked every day of my adult life, I am not married anymore, just dating--but I have a huge problem LEACHING off a man when he insists on paying for dinner or anything... I'd prefer to pay my own way, and I know a lot of women who are the same way..

If you are gonna complain about women leaching off men, maybe you men should quit offering to give the women the money--think of that yet??

As for the whole fact that he lied about the bonus, I think it is only fair that she get some.. It isn't her fault he lied to the court. So I agree with Doc that he's lucky he didn't get charged with perjury, and if that's the case, he wouldn't have access to any of that money--BECAUSE HE'D BE IN PRISON!!! "

 Lost in Court wrote on August 21, 2008 8:23 am:
" Had a house, maintained it by myself for a year--bought it with MY inheritance--yap lost it all. He came out with $27,000 I came out with $5,000 and final upkeep bills to sell the house. Oh the one I liked was he filed for child support and he going to get it. Our son was living 100 miles away going to college. He lied and said he was living at home and several years younger. He even wanted my meager retirement but he has military retirement which he again lied about. I still lost through all the lies. Af far as the woman here...when you are the wife of an executive of that status, you are employed. You have to maintain the image, the dinner, the other corporate crap. No wonder my insurance is expensive, I just paid for that man's bonus. "

 Pay Up wrote on August 21, 2008 10:01 am:
" He tried to hide his assets from her. He most likely filed for divorce after 30 years knowing that he was trying to finalize all this before his big payout. He still ended up with 2/3 of the money so why is everyone cryig for him? This was fraud, pure and simple and he got caught. He should be in jail. "

 CS wrote on August 21, 2008 10:22 am:
" Military retirement is split by half amongst divorced spouses, under the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act . You can't 'lie' about military retirement, it is either there or it is not. There are provisions that determine whether DFAS makes the payment or the former spouse, but in the end it's still half. VA disability is not attachable, but once its deposited money is money and it would show up on your bank statements. So, unless your former spouse stuffed his checks in a mattress, you had a lousy lawyer that didn't look very hard for marital assets. "

 Nina wrote on August 21, 2008 12:20 pm:
" Many a man (and woman) have regretted lying, when the truth would in the end benefit them. Now he has to share perhpas more than he would have otherwise, besides pay legal and other costs for his lie. Guess he's a gambler, but he lost this time. "

 Raymel wrote on August 21, 2008 12:30 pm:
" I swear If I marry you with 100 million I better leave with 100 million. You marry me with nothing, you better leave me with nothing. "

 to eric wrote on August 21, 2008 7:09 pm:
" women don't always get everything in divorces. my now husband had been through a nasty divorce with his ex-wife. she thought she would get custody of the kids just because she was a woman, well, wrong! we have full costody of all 4 of his kids and she has to pay child support and only gets visitation on the weekends. she may have gotten all the physical belongings (which wasn't much due to her habits), but he got the most important, the kids. and the best part of it all... was the judge in his divorce case was a woman! "

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