Hart v. Hart

• Decision Date: 14 September 2015
• Docket Number: No. S15F0964.,S15F0964.
• Citation: 297 Ga. 709,777 S.E.2d 431
• Parties: HART v. HART.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

297 Ga. 709

777 S.E.2d 431

HART

v.HART.

No. S15F0964.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Sept. 14, 2015.

James W. Davis, Macon, for appellant.

Christine Michele Cruse, Warner Robins, for appellee.

Opinion

THOMPSON, Chief Justice.

This case involves an appeal from a trial court's final divorce decree which incorporated the parties' settlement agreement. In 2013, appellant Victoria Hart (“wife”), filed a complaint seeking a divorce from her husband, Lee Hart (“husband”). The parties' pre-trial efforts to settle, including mediation, were unsuccessful and they proceeded to trial. They continued to negotiate, both with and without the aid of counsel, until the morning of trial but began selecting a jury after they were unable to resolve their differences.

Following a mid-day recess, the parties informed the trial court that they had reached an agreement. The trial court stated its understanding that the parties had reached an agreement, directed counsel to put the parties' agreement on the record, and instructed counsel and the parties to listen carefully and ask questions if they had any. Wife's counsel then announced the parties' settlement agreement on the record, the undisputed terms of which included that: (1) the marital share of husband's military retirement would be split equally between the parties; (2) wife would remain the named beneficiary on husband's survivor benefit plan; (3) wife would receive $5,000 from husband's Thrift Savings Plan; (4) wife would receive alimony of $1,375 per month for 24 months beginning on a date certain; (5) personal property, including family pets, would be divided in accordance with a list prepared by the parties; (6) husband would assume responsibility for all marital debt; and (7) husband would receive the marital home. Although the announced settlement made no mention of husband's unvested civil service retirement,¹ counsel for both parties affirmed at the conclusion of the hearing that the terms announced on the record covered “everything.”

In the following weeks, counsel worked to memorialize the settlement in a written document to be presented to the trial court, resulting in a final draft containing numerous revisions requested by wife, none of which are at issue in this appeal. Each version of the agreement jointly drafted by counsel included language stating that the agreement constituted a final settlement of all issues and a provision stating that by entering into the agreement, the parties waived any claims or rights they may have against the other as to retirement accounts not mentioned in the agreement. The final draft was presented to the parties for their signatures, but wife refused to sign and subsequently retained new counsel.

After a hearing, the trial court granted husband's motion to enforce the parties' settlement agreement and entered a final decree incorporating the last revision of the draft agreement. In doing so, the trial court rejected wife's argument that the unsigned draft did not accurately reflect the agreement between the parties because she never consented to waive her right to assert a claim against husband's civil service retirement. Wife subsequently filed an application for discretionary appeal in which she alleged that the trial court improperly added a substantive term to the parties' settlement when it included the challenged waiver language in the final decree.² See DeGarmo v. DeGarmo, 269 Ga. 480, 499 S.E.2d 317 (1998) ; Reichard v. Reichard,

262 Ga. 561, 423 S.E.2d 241 (1992). This Court granted wife's application pursuant to Rule 34(4) of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Georgia, and for the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

We note initially that wife does not dispute the trial court's finding that the parties reached an enforceable settlement agreement. See Herndon v. Herndon, 227 Ga. 781, 783–784, 183 S.E.2d 386 (1971) (“parties to a [divorce case] may by oral agreement compromise and settle the same, which will bind them although not reduced to writing. [Cit.]”). Rather, wife's sole contention on appeal is that the trial court erred by finding that she agreed as part of the settlement to waive her right to claim an interest in husband's civil service retirement and incorporating the waiver of that right into the final decree.³ Thus, the issue before the trial court and now before this Court is what was the intent of the parties with regard to husband's civil service retirement when they announced that they had reached a settlement covering all issues in their divorce action.

We begin our analysis by recognizing the maxim that “[s]ettlement agreements in divorce cases are construed in the same manner as all other contractual agreements.” Buckner v. Buckner, 294 Ga. 705, 708, 755 S.E.2d 722 (2014). Thus, “[w]here the parties in a divorce action enter into a settlement agreement, its meaning and effect should be determined according to the usual rules for the construction of contracts, the cardinal rule being to ascertain the intention of the parties.” Cousins v. Cousins, 253 Ga. 30, 31(1), 315 S.E.2d 420 (1984). See also OCGA § 13–2–3.

In determining if parties had the mutual assent or meeting of the minds necessary to reach agreement, courts apply an objective theory of intent whereby one party's intention is deemed to be that meaning a reasonable [person] in the position of the other contracting party would ascribe to the first party's manifestations of assent. In making that determination, the circumstances surrounding the making of the contract, such as correspondence and discussions, are relevant in deciding if there was a mutual assent to an agreement, and courts are free to consider such extrinsic evidence.

(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Frickey v. Jones, 280 Ga. 573, 575, 630 S.E.2d 374 (2006). See Paul v. Paul, 235 Ga. 382, 384, 219 S.E.2d 736 (1975) (to discern intent of parties, courts should consider the whole of the agreement and the surrounding circumstances); OCGA § 13–2–2(1) (attendant and surrounding circumstances may be proved to arrive at true interpretation of a contract). Courts, of course, are limited to those terms upon which the parties have actually agreed, for absent the parties' mutual assent, there is no enforceable contract. See Reichard, 262 Ga. at 564, 423 S.E.2d 241. We review a trial court's order on a motion to enforce a settlement agreement de novo. See Allen v. Sea Gardens Seafood, Inc., 290 Ga. 715, 717(2), 723 S.E.2d 669 (2012).

The record in this case demonstrates that there were extensive settlement negotiations between husband and wife, including negotiations related to husband's possible future civil service retirement. Throughout these negotiations, husband steadfastly refused to agree to any settlement which reserved to wife a right to claim an interest in his civil service retirement. The parties' negotiations ultimately resulted in a settlement the terms of which were announced on the record and which was intended to resolve all issues in the divorce action. This intent is evidenced by the parties' statements affirming that they had reached a full settlement, the dismissal of the jury already selected, and the absence of any objection to the inclusion of language in the jointly drafted written agreement stating that “the parties had agreed to a final settlement of the complaint and counter-claim for divorce.” See Sponsler v. Sponsler, 287 Ga. 725, 727(1), 699 S.E.2d 22 (2010) (rejecting husband's argument that settlement terms remained in dispute after settlement was announced to the trial court where husband knew settlement was intended to be final resolution of all issues and he failed to object to announced terms). Compare Anderson v. Larkin, 190 Ga.App. 283, 284–285, 378 S.E.2d 707 (1989) (holding that agreement to division of real property did not evidence parties' intent to settle all claims at issue). See also Herring v. Dunning, 213 Ga.App. 695, 697, 446 S.E.2d 199 (1994) (recognizing that “an offer to compromise is an offer to terminate the controversy” and in litigation “compromise” is synonymous with “settlement”). Although the parties' correspondence shows that wife's counsel requested revisions to the language of the drafted agreement, none of the requested revisions related to husband's civil service retirement, to the language indicating that the settlement was intended as a full and final settlement of...