Geiger v. Geiger, 57781

• Decision Date: 24 August 1988
• Docket Number: No. 57781,57781
• Citation: 530 So.2d 185
• Parties: Sydney GEIGER v. Joan N. GEIGER.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 185

530 So.2d 185

Sydney GEIGER v. Joan N. GEIGER.

No. 57781.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Aug. 24, 1988.

Rehearing Denied Sept. 21, 1988.

Alvin M. Binder, Lisa B. Milner, Binder, Milner & Milner, Jackson, for appellant.

David Slaughter, Paul Snow, Paul Snow & Associates, Jackson, for appellee.

Before EN BANC.

HAWKINS, Presiding Justice, for the court:

Sydney Geiger has appealed from a decree of the chancery court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County denying his petition to reduce alimony payments, and awarding his former wife, Mrs. Joan N. Geiger, attorney fees.

Mrs. Geiger has cross-appealed for additional attorney fees.

We find no merit in the cross-appeal. We likewise find that the chancellor was within his discretion in denying any reduction in alimony. We do find, however, that under the facts of this case Mrs. Geiger should not have been awarded any attorney fees.

FACTS

A divorce based upon irreconcilable differences was entered as to Sydney Geiger and his wife Joan N. Geiger by the chancery court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County on April 18, 1980. They had married December 21, 1947, and four children had been born of their marriage.

The two of them owned shares in Delta Steel Corporation, a close corporation, with Mr. Geiger being the major shareholder. Mr. Geiger had started the business in 1955. An extensive property settlement and alimony agreement was executed by them, and was made a part of the decree.

This agreement, among other things, provided:

1. Mrs. Geiger would receive $2,000 per month alimony, binding upon the estate of the husband, but to cease in the event of her remarriage. [Emphasis added]

2. The corporation would lease the realty jointly owned by them for 20 years, at an annual rental of $15,000, but adjustable annually in accordance with the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index.

3. The corporation would redeem Mrs. Geiger's shares for $214,000, payable partly in cash and the remainder over a ten-year period.

4. From their tax shelter investments, Mrs. Geiger was to receive $51,000, $11,000 down and the balance payable over a ten-year period.

5. Mr. Geiger agreed to maintain a $150,000 insurance policy on his life.

6. Mr. Geiger agreed to maintain a medical and hospitalization insurance policy on his wife, and if the benefits were terminated for any reason, Mr. Geiger would be responsible for all such bills. This obligation was to terminate upon her remarriage.

Following their divorce, the prosperity of the corporation took a marked turn for the worse. On March 27, 1985, Mr. Geiger filed a motion to modify the final decree by decreasing the monthly alimony, eliminating the life insurance Mr. Geiger had obligated himself to maintain, eliminating the medical insurance, and by "decreasing the other obligations" in the divorce decree. Mr. Geiger alleged a substantial change in their financial circumstances--his for the worse, hers for the better.

Following discovery the chancellor conducted an extensive hearing on April 22, 1986, and rendered his opinion and final decree refusing to reduce alimony payments because Mr. Geiger had not shown a sufficient material change in circumstances to justify a reduction in alimony. The chancellor concluded that while the corporation had suffered financial reversals, it was recovering; and no doubt he also concluded that the monthly alimony, in view of Mr. Geiger's financial circumstances, was rather modest. He specifically noted Mr. Geiger's motion to modify was premature, thus indicating that Mr. Geiger might well be entitled to a modification at some future date. The chancellor did award Mrs. Geiger $5,000 attorney's fees in partial payment of her litigation expenses in defending this action.

Mr. Geiger has appealed, and Mrs. Geiger has cross-appealed, seeking full payment of all her litigation expenses.

LAW

We have carefully examined this record and concluded that there was substantial evidence to support the chancellor's decree, and clearly he was not manifestly wrong. It also appears that part of the payments Mr. Geiger sought to change or eliminate were property settlement, in any event; e.g., the life insurance policy. We make no express finding on this, however, because it is not necessary for us to do so, in view of our disposition of this appeal. We do reject Mrs. Geiger's contention that the $2,000 monthly alimony agreed to between the parties, and awarded by the court in the 1980 decree, was fixed or lump sum alimony not subject to reduction. Indicative factors for this conclusion are: the payments were terminable upon the wife's remarriage; they were "for her own support" and they were not "as settlement of the claim of wife to husband's properties." The test of East v. East, 493 So.2d 927 (Miss.1986), was not met here.

Mr. Geiger also appeals from the refusal of the chancellor to award him sanctions because of Mrs. Geiger's failure to comply with discovery orders of the court. This again was a discretionary matter, and we find no clear abuse of discretion.

Finally, Mr. Geiger claims he should not have been assessed his wife's attorneys' fees. Under the facts of this case, we agree. We are, of course, reluctant to disturb a chancellor's discretionary determination whether or not to...