Hall v. Hall
| Citation | 388 S.E.2d 669,9 Va.App. 426 |
| Decision Date | 13 February 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 0512-88-4,0512-88-4 |
| Parties | Harry Leonard HALL v. Ella Marie HALL. Record |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Virginia |
Stephen G. Cochran (Cochran & Pijor, on brief), for appellant.
Robert L. Vaughn, Jr. (Miller & Bucholtz, Reston, on brief), for appellee.
Present: DUFF, HODGES and MOON, JJ.
The dispositive question in this matter, which arises from a bifurcated divorce proceeding, is whether Harry Hall's (husband's) appeal from the circuit court's order of spousal support is proper. The husband challenges the spousal support award solely on the ground that the court erred in not finding Ella Hall (wife) guilty of desertion, which at that date would have barred her from receiving spousal support. 1 For the reasons stated below, we dismiss the appeal.
On December 18, 1987, the trial court overruled the recommendation of the commissioner in chancery that the husband be granted a divorce based on the ground of the wife's desertion and granted the parties a divorce on the ground of living separate and apart for more than one year. In its letter opinion of December 2, 1987, the court found that the wife, who was an alcoholic, was justified in leaving the marital home due to her husband's drinking and the stress brought about by their children's use of alcohol and drugs. The court found that the wife reasonably believed that remaining in the home would jeopardize her health and well-being and that her attempts to remedy the situation had been unsuccessful. The final decree of divorce reserved jurisdiction over the matters of spousal support and equitable distribution. A final hearing on these matters was held on February 23, 1988. Among other provisions of the final order of March 4, 1988, the court ordered the husband to pay wife $450 per month spousal support. He filed this appeal on April 1, 1988, more than ninety days after the entry of the final decree of divorce but within thirty days of the spousal support order.
We hold that the doctrine of res judicata bars the husband's appeal of the spousal support award on the sole ground that the award was invalid because his wife was guilty of desertion. The issue of the wife's alleged misconduct was finally and conclusively resolved by the court's ruling on the final decree of divorce and could not be relitigated at the hearing on the issues of spousal support and equitable distribution.
In so holding, we distinguish Morris v. Morris, 3 Va.App. 303, 349 S.E.2d 661 (1986), a case in which the husband, in a bifurcated proceeding, appealed from the spousal support award on the ground that the wife was barred from receiving spousal support because her conduct toward him constituted cruelty, which amounted to constructive desertion. In Morris, this court reviewed the trial court's finding on the issue of the wife's alleged constructive desertion as it related to the spousal support award. The husband in Morris initially sought a divorce based on a one year separation. His wife filed an answer and a cross-bill seeking a divorce on the ground of cruelty, raising the issue of the husband's alleged misconduct. Before granting the parties a divorce on the ground of a one year separation, the court heard evidence regarding the husband's alleged misconduct, but heard no evidence concerning the wife's conduct. Thus, prior to the spousal support hearing, the trial court had not ruled on whether the wife was guilty of constructive desertion. Unlike the husband in this case, the husband in Morris was not barred by the...
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