Crim v. Crim
| Decision Date | 22 April 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 0730,0730 |
| Citation | 345 S.E.2d 515,289 S.C. 360 |
| Parties | Phyllis J. CRIM, Appellant, v. Reuben Sidney CRIM, Respondent. . Heard |
| Court | South Carolina Court of Appeals |
Thomas E. McCutchen and T. English McCutchen, III, both of Whaley, McCutchen, Blanton & Rhodes, Columbia, for appellant.
Jean H. Toal, of Belser, Baker, Barwick, Ravenel, Toal & Bender, of Columbia; and James E. Hunter, West Columbia, for respondent.
Phyllis J. Crim, the wife, appeals from the decree of the family court that granted her a divorce from the husband, Reuben S. Crim, on the ground of adultery, awarded her custody of the parties' two minor children, awarded her rehabilitative alimony for one year, awarded her child support, and equitably divided the marital property. The issues on appeal are whether the trial judge erred in awarding rehabilitative rather than permanent periodic alimony and whether the trial judge abused his discretion in equitably dividing the marital property. We reverse in part, affirm in part, and remand.
The parties married on January 14, 1963, when the wife was nineteen years old and the husband was twenty. At the time of their marriage, the wife had only an associate degree. The husband had not been to college but with the wife's support and encouragement, he attended college and received his bachelor's degree in 1967. While the husband was in college, the wife worked full-time.
Thereafter, in accordance with the parties' prior agreement, the wife returned to school and received her bachelor's degree also. It is clear from the record that both parties worked and contributed to their own and to each other's education.
In 1968, the husband went to work for Columbia Newspapers as Personnel Director. The parties' first child, Berry W. Crim, was born that same year. Following Berry's birth, the wife remained home and out of the work force for a year and a half.
The wife, who possesses a teacher's certificate, engaged in full-time teaching for ten weeks in the fall of 1970.
In 1970, the husband took a job with a newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia, and moved the family to Charleston. They lived there for the next six years. Their daughter, Jordan B. Crim, was born in Charleston two years later.
The Crims moved to Beckley, West Virginia, in 1976, where the husband worked with a local newspaper for five years. In 1981, they returned to Columbia where the husband was employed as General Manager and Executive Vice President of Columbia Newspapers.
During their years in West Virginia, the wife occasionally worked as a substitute teacher but she never received any substantial income from teaching. She did, however, maintain a current teaching certificate and is presently certified to teach in elementary schools and to teach business subjects in high school.
Corresponding increases in salary have marked the husband's move up in the newspaper business. At the time of the hearing, his salary exceeded $96,000 a year. He also was receiving many benefits, such as club memberships, a company car, insurance, and stock offerings.
The parties separated in July, 1983, after more than twenty years of marriage. The husband admitted to having an affair with another woman after the date of the separation but strongly denied that his affair caused the breakup of the marriage. Instead, he claimed that the wife withdrew all emotional support from him after they returned to Columbia and that she often embarrassed him in public and in front of business colleagues. Several witnesses corroborated these facts at the trial.
The wife testified that the problems in the marriage began when the husband started staying out after work with business associates, became inattentive to her, and generally excluded her from his life.
The parties lived comfortably during their marriage. They travelled to places like Newfoundland, Arizona, Florida, and the Bahamas. The parties lived in expensive homes in West Virginia and in Columbia. One or both of the children took tennis lessons, piano lessons, ballet lessons and played golf. They were members of a country club and another private club.
The trial judge granted the wife a divorce on the ground of adultery but found that "[n]either party was faultless in the deterioration and breakup of the marriage." The judge granted custody of the two children to the wife and ordered the husband to pay $750 per month per child in child support. The trial judge further ordered the husband to pay to the wife $1,000 per month in rehabilitative alimony for a period of one year based upon his finding that the wife "is capable of earning gainful income for her own self-support ...."
The trial judge's order permits the wife to live in the marital home, which is jointly owned by the parties, for a period of one year from the date of the decree and directs the husband to make the monthly house payments for that period. At the end of the year, either the parties may sell the residence with the net proceeds to go to the wife or the husband may convey his one-half interest in the property to the wife, in which case the wife would be responsible for the house payments.
The trial judge divided the remaining property of the parties, including the contents of the marital home. He awarded 60% of the contents to the wife and 40% thereof to the husband. Exclusive of the contents, the wife received by way of equitable distribution assets worth $75,150 while the husband got assets worth $65,535.
The wife contends the trial judge erred in awarding her rehabilitative alimony. She seeks permanent periodic alimony in terms of money and other forms of support, such as house payments, insurance on the husband's life, and country club dues.
The South Carolina Supreme Court recognized rehabilitative alimony in Herring v. Herring, 286 S.C. 447, 335 S.E.2d 366 (1985); see also Eagerton v. Eagerton, 285 S.C. 279, 328 S.E.2d 912 (Ct.App.1985). Factors to be considered in awarding rehabilitative alimony include (1) the duration of the marriage, (2) the age, health, and educational background of the supported spouse, (3) the financial resources of the parties, (4) the parties' accustomed standards of living, (5) the ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet his or her needs while meeting those of the spouse seeking maintenance, (6) the time necessary for the dependent spouse to acquire job skills, and (7) the likelihood of success in the job market. Alliegro v. Alliegro, 287 S.C. 154, 337 S.E.2d 252 (Ct.App.1985).
This case is clearly a close one. Although the marriage was lengthy, the wife, at 43, is still relatively young and...
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