In re the Marriage of Johnson

We are asked to decide whether a dissolution petition alleging that the parties should divide the estimated value of the family home in equal shares provides adequate notice that a default dissolution decree will convey the home to the husband, grant judgment against him for half the home’s value, direct him to pay interest at 12 percent per annum, and compel him to execute a deed of trust. We answer no.

Steven C. Johnson and Shelley Lynn Johnson married in 1988 and separated in 1996. On May 21,1997, Shelley filed a petition for dissolution. She alleged that the family home was worth $280,000…