Caplinger v. Caplinger
| Decision Date | 12 February 2013 |
| Docket Number | No. 2011–CA–01278–COA.,2011–CA–01278–COA. |
| Citation | 108 So.3d 992 |
| Court | Mississippi Court of Appeals |
| Parties | Roger L. CAPLINGER, Appellant v. Gina L. CAPLINGER (Julian), Appellee. |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Jason Brooks Purvis, David C. Goff, attorneys for appellant.
M. Channing Powell, attorney for appellee.
EN BANC.
FAIR, J., for the Court:
¶ 1. The Hancock County Chancery Court found Roger Caplinger in contempt for failure to pay child support and uncoveredmedical bills. Roger now appeals claiming the chancellor erred in interpreting the parties' child-support agreement, finding Roger in contempt, and awarding attorney's fees to Gina Caplinger (Julian). We find the chancellor's interpretation of the escalation clause in their agreement, his adjudication of Roger's contempt, and his award of attorney's fees supported in the record. However, we find that the chancellor erred in determining the support order was a global order and in ordering Roger to pay half of the medical bills. Therefore, we affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.
FACTS
¶ 2. Roger and Gina were divorced in 1994. Pursuant to their child-custody, support, and property-settlement agreement, Gina had custody of the two children, Ashley and Christen. Roger was to pay child support, provide health insurance for the children, and pay half of any deductibles.
¶ 3. In 2007, Ashley was seventeen and became pregnant. Around the end of December, she lived with her father before moving into an apartment with her boyfriend in August 2008. The parties agree that Ashley was emancipated beginning in 2008. In June 2008, Christen was fifteen and moved in with her father for a few months prompting Roger to file for modification of custody. Gina counterclaimed for contempt and to modify child support. Ultimately, Christen moved back to her mother's in September, and Roger withdrew his motion.
¶ 4. Gina proceeded on the counterclaim, and after a trial, the chancellor found Roger in contempt of the property-settlement agreement. Explaining that the agreement was ambiguous, the chancellor interpreted it and determined Roger was $52,713 in arrears. The chancellor ordered him to pay the arrearage and attorney's fees of $9,784.28.
¶ 5. Roger now appeals arguing that the chancellor erred in construing the property settlement agreement, refusing to acknowledge the divisible support order, finding Roger in contempt, and awarding attorney's fees. Roger asserts that the chancellor's findings were against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 6. “Chancellors are afforded wide latitude in fashioning equitable remedies in domestic relations matters, and their decisions will not be reversed if the findings of fact are supported by substantial credible evidence in the record.” Henderson v. Henderson, 757 So.2d 285, 289 (¶ 19) (Miss.2000) (citation omitted). This Court will not “interfere with the chancellor's findings of fact unless they were manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous, or an erroneous legal standard was applied.” Tucker v. Prisock, 791 So.2d 190, 192 (¶ 10) (Miss.2001) (citation omitted). However, the chancellor's application of the law is reviewed under a de novo standard. Id.
DISCUSSION
¶ 7. Roger agrees that the property-settlement agreement is ambiguous but challenges the interpretation of two specific clauses. Each will be addressed in turn.
¶ 8. Roger claims the chancellor failed to follow the rules of construction and improperly interpreted the following escalation clause:
Periodic Increase: Husband shall increase his payment to Wife, for child support, with each raise, such increase to be twenty (20%) percent of his increase in pay.
¶ 9. The interpretation of an ambiguous writing is a question of fact for determination by the fact-finder. Dennis v. Searle, 457 So.2d 941, 945 (Miss.1984). The cardinal rule of construction is to “give effect to the mutual intentions of the parties.” Hoerner v. First Nat'l Bank of Jackson, 254 So.2d 754, 759 (Miss.1971). Any ambiguity found in the writing is construed more strongly against the party who prepared it. Kight v. Sheppard Bldg. Supply, Inc., 537 So.2d 1355, 1358 (Miss.1989). The construction that the parties have placed upon the contract, or how they behave under it, is “relevant extrinsic evidence, and often the best evidence of what the contract requires them to do.” Id.
¶ 10. The chancellor found that the periodic increase was enforceable because its language was clear, and Roger had voluntarily increased his payment from $400 to $500 in 1996. The chancellor also found that the periodic increase was related to the statutory guidelines and was intended to keep payments at twenty percent of Roger's adjusted gross income (AGI) for the two children. To calculate the arrearage, the chancellor determined Roger's adjusted gross income for each year 1 and found that twenty percent of that figure should have been paid as child support. Due to decreases in Roger's earnings, which are not contemplated in the periodic-increase clause, the chancellor began calculating arrearages for increased support from 2004, when Roger's yearly income returned to over $50,000.
¶ 11. After reviewing the evidence presented, we find that the chancellor's interpretation was supported by the plain language of the agreement and the parties' conduct. Roger and Gina both testified to their understanding of the periodic-increase clause. Each understood that when Roger received a raise, he should increase his support payments equal to twenty percent of that raise. And Roger voluntarily increased his payment by $100 in 1996. Further, the chancellor's determination that the clause referenced the child-support guidelines is both logical and practical. For the last thirteen years, neither party ensured that the periodic increases happened. Instead of attempting to reach back in time and determine exactly what raises Roger received on what dates, the chancellor determined Roger's adjusted gross income and applied the statutory twenty percent. Generously, the chancellor determined that because the clause did not provide for decreases in salary, the arrearage should only be calculated from 2004.2 We cannot say that the chancellor abused his discretion in interpreting the periodic-increase clause.
¶ 12. This Court has held that property-settlement agreements are not treated the same as support ordered by a chancellor. In Wing v. Wing, 549 So.2d 944, 947 (Miss.1989), the Mississippi Supreme Court reaffirmed its prior holding in Tedford v. Dempsey, 437 So.2d 410 (Miss.1983), and set out four factors to which escalation clauses must be tied when established by a chancellor. The court noted the problems related to drafting enforceableescalation clauses and urged the bar to:
(a) specify with certainty the particular cost of living or consumer price index which is to be utilized (there are many); (b) show the applicable ratio (present CPI is to ascertainable CPI as present award is to future award); (c) calculate the base figure as of the date of judgment; (d) establish frequency of adjustments (we suggest nothing less than yearly); and (e) establish an effective date for each adjustment (e.g. anniversary of date of judgment).
¶ 13. But more recently, in Speed v. Speed, 757 So.2d 221 (Miss.2000), the supreme court considered an escalation clause related to periodic alimony payments. The property-settlement agreement provided alimony of $1500 per month and read: “In addition to the foregoing said payments herein above provided shall increase or decrease directly in relation to the increases and the cost of living as determined by the U.S. Department of Commerce Consumers Cost of Living Index, to be adjusted annually.” Id. at 223 (¶ 2). The supreme court held that the clause was enforceable and explained: Id. at 226 (¶¶ 14–15).
¶ 14. This Court has also considered escalation clauses in the context of child-support agreements in irreconcilable differences divorce settlements. In Rogers v. Rogers, 919 So.2d 184 (Miss.Ct.App.2005), the father argued that his agreement to pay fourteen percent of any future bonuses or salary increases was an unenforceable escalation clause. Finding that the argument lacked merit, we held: Id. at 189 (¶ 19). Further, Stigler v. Stigler, 48 So.3d 547 (Miss.Ct.App.2009), directly addressed this issue. In Stigler, the father attempted to invalidate an escalation clause that was part of his property-settlement agreement because it was not based on the four Wing factors. Id. at 551 (¶ 9). In holding that the escalation clause was enforceable, this Court again pointed out “there is a different standard when the parties enter into an agreement.” Id.
¶ 15. Roger agreed to a periodic increase in child-support payments based on a percentage of periodic increases in his net income. There was no evidence of fraud, mistake, or overreaching in the execution of the parties' property-settlement agreement. Roger simply agreed to do more than the law required for his children, and the chancellor required him to live up to his promises. This agreement is enforceable.
¶ 16. Roger argues that the chancellor erroneously determined that because he increased his support payments to $500, he converted the divisible support award into a global support award and could not arbitrarily divide the new amount when one child was emancipated.
¶ 17. For global child-support payments, the emancipation of one child does not automatically reduce the lump-sum payment....
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