Clark v. Clark, 47365

• Decision Date: 01 April 1974
• Docket Number: No. 47365,47365
• Citation: 293 So.2d 447
• Parties: Mrs. Phyllis A. CLARK v. Reynolds CLARK.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 447

293 So.2d 447

Mrs. Phyllis A. CLARK v. Reynolds CLARK.

No. 47365.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

April 1, 1974.

Rehearing Denied May 13, 1974.

Daniel P. Self, Jr., Louie M. Bishop, Waynesboro, for appellant.

W. Vol Jones Waynesboro, Lowell W. Tew, Laurel, for appellee.

WALKER, Justice:

This case arose out of a divorce proceeding in the Chancery Court of Wayne County, Mississippi, wherein appellant, Mrs. Phyllis A. Clark, sued Reynolds Clark for divorce. It is not necessary to recite the evidence insofar as it applies to the grounds for divorce for the reason that the only question before this Court is whether or not the chancellor was correct in his award to appellant of monthly alimony, the use of the couple's automobile and family home on which the appellee is to pay monthly mortgage notes, and attorneys' fees.

Both parties have appealed.

In the bill of complaint for divorce, the appellant asked for, among other things, a lump sum award of $50,000 plus a monthly alimony allowance of $250. In the final decree, the special chancellor failed to grant a lump sum award and allowed only the sum of $200 per month as alimony to appellant. However, he did award the appellant use of a 1967 Oldsmobile automobile, the use of the family home, with the further provision that the appellee-cross appellant would make the payments on the home of $84 per month, and attorneys' fees in the amount of $1,500.

Appellant contends here that the special chancellor was manifestly wrong and that the award to appellant is so grossly inadequate as to constitute reversible error. Appellant further contends that she should have been awarded one-half of the funds held in various savings accounts which the appellee-cross appellant withdrew from jointly held accounts in June, 1971, shortly before their separation and deposited in accounts that bear only his name. The appellant asserts that the accounts were opened in the names of Phyllis and Reynolds Clark several years after their marriage and contained funds that had been accumulated through their joint efforts during the course of the marriage. Finally appellant argues that the award of attorneys' fees is inadequate.

The evidence established that Phyllis Clark and Reynolds Clark were married in 1960 and at the time of the trial had been married for approximately twelve years. That at the time Phyllis married Reynolds Clark, she was a licensed cosmetologist but fourteen months thereafter was requested by her husband to give up her chosen vocation and work with him in the office of a newly created business called Reynolds Construction Company which he formed as a partnership with another man. When the partnership was dissolved in 1965, the Clarks continued to operate the construction and real estate company. Mrs. Clark was 31 years old when she first joined her husband in the business and for approximately eleven years of their marriage she worked without compensation from nine o'clock in the morning until five o'clock in the afternoon, six days a week, keeping the records, answering the telephone, writing checks, making deposits of money, helping select real estate and building plans, greeting people in the office, collecting money and giving receipts. It was conceded that she was in general charge of the construction company and real estate office. In addition to these duties, she did approximately seventy percent of the work in connection with Reynolds Clark's position as Director of the Housing Authority Office in the City of Waynesboro for which he received a monthly salary of $240.

The evidence also shows that Reynolds Clark was a hardworking businessman who had exercised good business judgment and thereby accumulated a considerable amount of assets over the period of the marital relationship, in addition to approximately seven hundred acres of land that contains valuable timber and mineral interest which he inherited from his father. A list of these assets and their respective values, as testified to by the appellee-cross appellant, is as follows:

1. Savings accounts that contain funds totalling approximately $63,500.

2. One hundred seventy-seven shares of stock in a local bank valued at approximately $10,600.

3. A one-half interest in approximately one hundred head of cattle valued at $7,500.

4. A one-half interest in sixteen lots located in several subdivisions that have been developed by the appellee. His interest in the lots is valued at approximately $16,250. The appellee stated that several of the lots contain homes that he has built and when completed will sell for approximately $22,000 each.

5. The family home valued as approximately $20,000. It is to be noted that the appellant placed the value of the family home at $32,000, and that the chancellor accepted this figure in his findings of facts.

6. Three rental houses located within the City of Waynesboro, Mississippi, which have a total value of approximately $42,000.

7. Miscellaneous assets worth approximately $5,000, that include an insurance policy, two automobiles and tools used in the construction business.

The evidence is clear that appellee-cross appellant accumulated and retained assets totalling some $164,000 during the period of the marriage. Although he was the businessman in the family and generated the business which resulted in this accumulation of wealth, the appellant, Phyllis Clark, substantially contributed to the accumulation of marital assets. The evidence shows that her long hours of work was without any compensation in the form of a salary. Under such circumstances it is clear that she contributed to the accumulation of the assets and is therefore entitled to share therein. We are not dealing with a case...