Byers v. Caldwell, S00A1399.

• Decision Date: 20 November 2000
• Docket Number: No. S00A1399.,S00A1399.
• Citation: 273 Ga. 228,539 S.E.2d 141
• Parties: BYERS v. CALDWELL.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

539 S.E.2d 141

273 Ga. 228

BYERS v. CALDWELL.

No. S00A1399.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

November 20, 2000.

Reconsideration Denied December 14, 2000.

Donald W. Huskins, Eatonton, for appellant.

Michael C. Murphy, Lawrenceville, for appellee.

CARLEY, Justice.

William Caldwell and Terry Byers were divorced in 1989. In addition to addressing the issues of child support and periodic alimony, the initial provisions of the final decree made individual awards of certain specified items, such as the house and cars. Thereafter, Paragraph 12 ordered Mr. Caldwell to pay Ms. Byers "as equitable division of marital property the sum of $200,000 from the other assets of the parties." (Emphasis supplied.) Paragraph 13 provided that, "[i]n order to secure the payment of the equitable division of $200,000 hereinabove referred to, [Ms. Byers] shall have a special lien upon all of [Mr. Caldwell's] interests and partnership shares and benefits, including but not limited to," several strip shopping centers. Originally, this award was to be paid in monthly installments of $2,000 scheduled to begin 30 days after Ms. Byers remarried. Within weeks of the divorce, she did marry again, and the decree thereafter was modified to provide that the monthly payments of $2,000 would start 30 days after the sale of the marital home. Although the house was "sold" in a 1991 foreclosure, Mr. Caldwell has not made any of the $2,000 monthly payments. Ms. Byers filed several contempt actions, the last of which resulted in a consent order wherein he agreed to pay her $50,000 of the $200,000. He made that payment, leaving a balance due of $150,000.

In 1999, Mr. Caldwell filed a motion to clarify the meaning of "other assets" as used in the final divorce decree to identify the source of the $200,000 awarded to Ms. Byers. Contending that the reference was limited to his partnership interests in the shopping centers, he sought a ruling that he did not have to pay Ms. Byers until those partnerships distribute funds to him or until he sells his interests therein. According to Ms. Byers, the meaning of "other assets" is not so restricted. The trial court concluded that the phrase "other assets" was a clear and unambiguous reference to his partnership interests. Ms. Byers filed an application for discretionary appeal, which we granted in order to determine whether the trial court correctly interpreted the term "other assets" in the divorce decree.

Construction of a judgment requires consideration of the entirety of its provisions and, consequently, the avoidance of unduly emphasizing any particular word therein. See Shepard v. Bozeman, 222 Ga. 585, 587, 151 S.E.2d 147 (1966); Alexander v. Steining, 197 Ga.App. 328(1), 398 S.E.2d 390 (1990). Here, "other assets" was used in connection with the equitable division of the marital property. Such an award represents "an allocation of assets acquired during the marriage to the parties, based on their respective equitable interests in those assets. [Cits.]" Boyd v. Boyd, 191 Ga.App. 718, 382 S.E.2d 730 (1989). If funds from a specified source are awarded to one of the spouses as an element of the equitable division of their marital property, the other spouse cannot be required to make payment from a completely different marital asset. Wagan v. Wagan, 263 Ga. 376, 434 S.E.2d 475 (1993). Thus, had the judgment actually denominated the partnerships as an in rem award to Ms. Byers, then Mr. Caldwell could not be compelled to satisfy that obligation from any other source. However, the decree does not designate...