Broome v. Broome

• Decision Date: 13 December 2011
• Docket Number: No. 2010–CA–00300–COA.,2010–CA–00300–COA.
• Parties: T.C. BROOME, Appellant v. Sheila BROOME, Appellee.
• Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals

75 So.3d 1132

T.C. BROOME, Appellant

v.Sheila BROOME, Appellee.

No. 2010–CA–00300–COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

Dec. 13, 2011.

Mark H. Watts, Pascagoula, attorney for appellant.

William T. Reed, Pascagoula, attorney for appellee.

Before LEE, C.J., BARNES and ROBERTS, JJ.

BARNES, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. This appeal originates from a divorce action filed in the Chancery Court of Jackson County, Mississippi, between T.C. and Sheila Broome in 1993. For approximately eighteen years, the parties have litigated over the issues of property settlement and alimony. The case has spanned the tenure of three chancellors and included three prior appeals to the Mississippi Supreme Court. Additionally, a majority of the chancery court file was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, further stalling the case.

¶ 2. The instant appeal is of the chancellor's detailed thirty-six page Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law of October 12, 2009, which also served as the final judgment. The matters before the chancery court at the time, which relate to much of the case's lengthy history, were T.C.'s motion for modification of alimony, and Sheila's motions to strike modification and for sanctions against T.C. for violation of discovery requests. In her final judgment, the chancellor ruled T.C. was not barred by the doctrine of unclean hands and granted his motion to modify alimony, decreasing his alimony payment to Sheila from $3,000 to $1,500 per month. T.C. was also ordered to pay the arrearages for alimony that had accumulated from the date of the motion to this final judgment, or ninety-two months. T.C. also had to rectify the arrearages on pre-modification alimony and prior judgments, plus interest. Finally, Sheila's motion for sanctions was denied.

¶ 3. T.C. now appeals, raising three issues. He argues the chancellor should have terminated alimony or reduced it consistent with his current ability to pay. Regarding arrearages, T.C. argues the chancellor did not follow the mandate of this Court's 1997 opinion,¹ where he claims this Court awarded him an interest credit on payment he made to Sheila for various marital assets. Finally, T.C. contends the chancellor did not credit him for all of the payments he made on alimony arrearages and prior judgments. We affirm the chancellor's judgment except regarding one matter-the calculation of arrearage as of February 2001. On this matter, we reverse and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 4. In December 1993, the Chancery Court of Jackson County granted Sheila a divorce from T.C. after approximately twenty-three years of marriage on the ground of uncondoned adultery. The parties had two minor children at the time of the divorce: a daughter, born in 1980, and a son, born in 1984. T.C. remarried, while Sheila remains unmarried.

¶ 5. A judgment in regard to the division of marital assets, child custody, child support, and alimony was entered in June 1995. Marital assets at the time of the divorce were valued at approximately $1,000,000. The judgment awarded Sheila child support in the amount of $1,000 per month ($500 per month per child). The marital home, which was appraised at a value of $250,000, was also awarded to Sheila, and T.C. was required to pay off the remaining mortgage. The chancellor granted Sheila all home furnishings; some securities in the amount of approximately $10,000; thirty percent of T.C.'s sixty percent interest in T.C. Broome Construction Company (Broome Construction); thirty percent of a Merrill Lynch account valued at $154,000; and thirty percent of the $89,400 chancery settlement from a separate lawsuit involving Broome Construction (“M & W Settlement”).² T.C. was also required to obtain a $950,000 life insurance policy and name Sheila and the two children as beneficiaries.

¶ 6. The chancery court ordered T.C. to transfer thirty percent of his stock in Broome Construction to Sheila within thirty days of the judgment; granted him eighteen months from the date of the judgment to purchase Sheila's interest at the fair market value as of the date of judgment; but gave him the option to pay Sheila for her thirty percent over eight years, during which time she would have an equitable lien against the assets of the company. The judgment further provided that while Sheila was not awarded permanent alimony, T.C. was to pay Sheila $3,000 per month alimony commencing June 1, 1995, and ending when he met the financial obligations of the judgment. Both parties appealed the judgment of divorce.

¶ 7. The judgment did not specify Broome Construction's fair market value or how the valuation was to be made. T.C. decided to pay Sheila her thirty-percent interest in a lump sum. His company's accountant calculated its value at $764,333.33 as of the date of the judgment. On June 20, 1995, T.C. paid Sheila $165,140, which he claims included her interest in Broome Construction ($137,580), the M & W settlement, and the Merrill Lynch account. Therefore, T.C. claimed he complied with the formal provisions of the judgment and did not have to pay alimony.

¶ 8. In an opinion issued in May 1997,³ this Court held that the chancery court erred in not awarding Sheila periodic alimony, and reversed and remanded the case on the issue for a hearing to determine an appropriate amount of alimony. Additionally, this Court found that it was error for the chancery court to use T.C.'s own valuation of Broome Construction and that on remand the chancellor should use financial experts to determine the fair market value of the business as of the date of the divorce decree in December 1993. Further, the Court ordered Sheila to be compensated with interest on this amount from December 30, 1993, until the final resolution of the issue. Likewise, T.C. was to be credited with the $165,400 payment to Sheila, plus interest as of the date she was presented this check until final resolution of the issue.

¶ 9. The chancery court's first special master appointed for the valuation was ultimately replaced by another special master, Haiddee Sheffield, who prepared Broome Construction's valuation report. On June 30, 2000, the chancery court issued several judgments. Among other matters, the chancery court accepted Sheffield's valuation of Broome Construction, which as of December 1993 was determined to be $962,000. Therefore, Sheila's thirty-percent interest was $173,160, an increase in $35,580 from T.C.'s valuation and prior payment of $137,580. T.C. was credited with this prior payment, leaving a remaining balance of $35,580, together with eight-percent interest (the judgment rate) on the balance from July 1995 until paid in full. Additionally, the chancery court awarded Sheila $3,000 per month in permanent alimony, retroactive to the date of the divorce judgment in June 1995. The chancery court also ordered T.C. to surrender immediately all of his stock in Broome Construction to the registry of the court.

¶ 10. In December 2000, the chancery court entered an order upholding a 1996 contempt judgment for T.C.'s failure to pay certain financial obligations ordered by the court. Also in December 2000, the parties entered an agreed order stating that payment of the $35,580 by T.C. to Sheila would resolve all issues surrounding her interest in Broome Construction. However, no mention was made in the agreed order pertaining to interest; thus, the chancellor found interest eliminated by agreement.

¶ 11. In January 2001, two writs of garnishment ⁴ were served upon Broome Construction: one for permanent alimony, interest, and costs of $267,735.58; and a second for the 1996 order of contempt which was reiterated in the December 2000 order, totaling $119,629.33. In response to the garnishments, Merrill Lynch deposited $93,290.27 from T.C.'s account into the registry of the court. This left a remaining balance of $26,339.06 on the garnishment for the 1996 and 2000 orders. The chancellor found this deposit satisfied none of the alimony and only a portion of the arrearages.

¶ 12. In February 2001, Sheila filed a complaint for T.C.'s contempt ⁵ of the June and December 2000 orders. T.C. answered and counter-claimed for relief, requesting a reduction in his alimony payment due to a worsened financial position. In June 2001, the chancery court denied T.C.'s counterclaim for modification of his alimony payment, based upon the doctrine of unclean hands for his failure to pay numerous judgments, including alimony and other sums ordered to be paid by him.

¶ 13. In January 2002, the parties engaged in settlement negotiations. Among other matters, T.C. offered $313,339.06 to bring all past arrearages current. Sheila responded, in part, that she would accept this amount, with the condition that alimony would continue in the amount of $3,000 per month. Also, Sheila required that the settlement amount be paid by February 5, 2002. The record indicates the parties never reached a final agreement.

¶ 14. On March 2, 2002, T.C. sold his business for $2,400,000. T.C. received $400,000 as an initial payment for his interest in Broome Construction.⁶ On March 13, 2002, thirty-six days after Sheila's offer for settlement expired, T.C. paid $319,339.06 ⁷ into the registry of the chancery court. He claimed this payment satisfied all judgments entered in the cause including all alimony owed up to March 2002. On the same date, T.C. filed a second motion for modification of his alimony payment based on his deteriorating health, which had forced him to retire.⁸ On March 14, 2002, the chancery court acknowledged T.C. had “tendered payment toward the outstanding judgments in the amount of $319,339.06,” but not eliminating them, as T.C. claimed. (Emphasis added.) After a hearing on the matter, the court entered an order on March 20, 2002, releasing T.C.'s stock from the court registry and paying Sheila $319,339.06. On this same day, Sheila filed a motion to...