Culver v. Culver, 51860
| Decision Date | 14 May 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 51860,51860 |
| Citation | 383 So.2d 817 |
| Parties | David H. CULVER v. Joyce CULVER. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Dan W. Webb, Grady F. Tollison, Jr., Holcomb, Dunbar, Connell, Merkel, Tollison & Khayat, Oxford, for appellant.
Philip T. Dean, Billy J. Jordan, Columbus, William T. Sloan, Oxford, for appellee.
Before PATTERSON, C. J., and ROBERTSON and SUGG, JJ.
In the Chancery Court of Lafayette County, David Culver sought on the grounds of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment a divorce from Joyce Culver, his wife of twenty-eight years. Mrs. Culver denied the allegations in the bill of complaint and through a cross bill sought a decree of separate maintenance. Despite uncontradicted evidence that Mrs. Culver had for eight years refused her husband sexual relations, the court denied the divorce. Mr. Culver appeals. We reverse.
Mr. Culver testified that his wife forced celibacy upon him without justification and publicly directed at him embarrassing, abusive language, including false accusations of adultery, causing him to develop nervousness and a rash. Other witnesses corroborated this testimony that Mrs. Culver's conduct adversely affected her husband's health.
Mrs. Culver said she refused sexual relations because of her husband's drinking habits. She testified that he regularly drank beer to excess, causing a personality change; hence her refusal. She acknowledged that Mr. Culver gets up at six or seven every morning as he has for years, going to work sober. Friends of the Culvers testified that Mr. Culver enjoys beer, but cannot be classified as a drunkard. Mr. Culver stated that he drinks no hard liquor, only beer. His son agreed, testifying that his father very rarely drinks anything other than four or five beers during evening and early night. The son also indicated that Mrs. Culver herself enjoys vodka on occasion.
This Court has held that inexcusable long-continued refusal of sexual relations warrants divorce, either on the ground of constructive desertion for the statutory period, Graves v. Graves, 88 Miss. 677, 41 So. 384 (1906), or on the ground of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment, Sarphie v. Sarphie, 180 Miss. 313, 177 So. 358 (1937). Although habitual drunkenness could doubtless operate as an excuse for long-continued refusal of sexual relations, the evidence presently before us clearly fails to support the court's finding that Mr. Culver "stayed pretty well soaked on beer practically...
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Brown v. Brown
...relations must be inexcusable and long-continued. Handshoe v. Handshoe, 560 So.2d 182, 184 n. 5 (Miss.1990) (citing Culver v. Culver, 383 So.2d 817, 818 (Miss.1980)). ¶ 30. As stated, the facts and the chancellor's findings fail to support that Scott possessed any reasonable cause to abando......
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Brown v. Brown
...relations must be inexcusable and long-continued. Handshoe v. Handshoe, 560 So. 2d 182, 184 n.5 (Miss. 1990) (citing Culver v. Culver, 383 So. 2d 817, 818 (Miss. 1980)).¶30. As stated, the facts and the chancellor's findings fail to support that Scott possessed any reasonable cause to aband......
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Carambat v. Carambat
...analogy may be drawn to habitual drunkenness, the most similar ground for fault-based divorce in Mississippi law.14 In Culver v. Culver, 383 So.2d 817, 817–18 (Miss.1980), this Court did not find habitual drunkenness where the husband consumed four or five beers a night, without significant......
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Lee v. Lee, 2013–CA–00609–COA.
...him to become abusive and critical, constituted grounds for divorce under habitual drunkenness. On the other hand, in Culver v. Culver, 383 So.2d 817, 817–18 (Miss.1980), the court found that the husband's habit of drinking four to five beers a night that did not negatively impact the marri......