This opinion will be unpublished and

may not be cited except as provided by

Minn. Stat. § 480A.08, subd. 3 (1996).

STATE OF MINNESOTA

IN COURT OF APPEALS

C7-96-2309

In Re the Marriage of:

Marilyn Folland, petitioner,

Respondent,

vs.

Stuart Folland,

Appellant.

Filed June 17, 1997

Affirmed

Schultz, Judge

[*]

Dakota County District Court

File No. F2947292

Bruce A. Duncan, 200 Metropolitan Financial Center, 5101 Thimsen Avenue, Minnetonka, MN 55345 (for respondent)

Gregory P. Seamon, 700 St. Paul Building, Six West Fifth Street, St. Paul, MN 55102 (for appellant)

Considered and decided by Davies, Presiding Judge, Harten, Judge, and Schultz, Judge.

U N P U B L I S H E D O P I N I O N

SCHULTZ, Judge

This appeal is from the district court's October 15, 1996 order implementing the parties' decree of dissolution. Appellant contends that because the trial court's finding of bad faith was not supported by the record, its sanction of postdecree mortgage interest and attorney fees was error. We affirm.

FACTS

At the time of their March 17, 1995 dissolution, appellant Stuart Folland and respondent Marilyn Folland owned a home in Winter Haven, Florida, where appellant resided. The home was valued at $189,000, encumbered by two mortgages, and was in foreclosure. The judgment of dissolution ordered the homestead immediately placed for sale and any net proceeds evenly divided between the parties.

After the home was destroyed by fire on July 4, 1995, the district court ordered that the fire be treated the same as a sale and the insurance proceeds divided the same as sale proceeds. When the insurance proceeds were not disbursed despite this order, the district court ordered that the proceeds remaining after payment of the two mortgages and an IRS lien be immediately deposited with the district court and further ordered appellant to pay $400 of attorney fees if he did not comply by April 7, 1996. Around April 1, 1996, the insurer paid the IRS lien and the two mortgages. The remaining $45,799 was eventually sent to appellant's counsel on May 21, 1996, to deposit with the district court.

The parties still were unable to agree on a division of the insurance proceeds and each blamed the other for the stalemate. Each party moved the court for costs and attorney fees. In its October 15, 1996 order, the district court found

[appellant] has acted in bad faith since the fire * * * in that he failed to get the liens and mortgages satisfied as quickly as possible

and reduced his share of the proceeds by the amount of interest that accrued on the mortgages. The district court also ordered appellant to pay $4,280 of respondent's attorney fees.

D E C I S I O N

Appellant argues that the district court's bad-faith finding was not supported by the record. While the record does support the district court's finding, appellant was nevertheless responsible for mortgage interest under the plain language of the parties' decree of dissolution.

(f) From the date of entry of the Decree * * * [appellant] shall be solely responsible for all monthly payments of * * * interest * * * on said homestead.

The district court did not err by ordering appellant to pay mortgage interest that accrued from the time of the decree.

Attorney fees may be assessed against a party who "unreasonably contributes to the length or expense of the proceedings." Minn. Stat. § 518.14, subd. 1 (1996). An award of attorney fees under Minn. Stat. § 518.14 rests almost entirely within the discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed absent a clear abuse of discretion. Jensen v. Jensen, 409 N.W.2d 60, 63 (Minn. App. 1987). The district court's finding of bad faith is supported by a June 14, 1996 letter from the insurer stating that it delayed releasing the funds because it did not receive "permission from its named insured, Stuart Folland, concerning the distribution of funds." The district court's award of attorney fees was supported by its finding of bad faith.

Affirmed.

[ ]* Retired judge of the district court, serving as judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals by appointment pursuant to Minn. Const. art. VI, § 10.