Henderson v. Henderson, No. 94-CT-01141-SCT
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi |
| Writing for the Court | PITTMAN; DAN LEE |
| Citation | 703 So.2d 262 |
| Parties | Howard Hugh HENDERSON v. Mary K. Lawson HENDERSON. |
| Docket Number | No. 94-CT-01141-SCT |
| Decision Date | 20 November 1997 |
Page 262
v.
Mary K. Lawson HENDERSON.
Page 263
John Robert White, Jackson, for appellant.
Joanne S. Samson, John David Price, Wise Carter Child & Caraway, Jackson, for appellee.
En Banc.
ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
PITTMAN, Justice, for the Court:
¶1 This matter comes before the Court after having granted Howard Henderson's petition for writ of certiorari. In an order entered October 12, 1994, the Madison County Chancery Court divided the marital property without applying equitable principles relative to the marital assets. The Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed and rendered in part.
¶2 We find that the chancery court failed to consider the equitable distribution of the marital assets, the award of periodic alimony, and the award of child support. Accordingly, we reverse and remand on all economic issues.
¶3 Mary and Howard Henderson were married on January 24, 1981, in Jackson, Mississippi. During the first year of their marriage, they lived in a house trailer owned by Howard. At the time of the marriage, Howard was earning approximately $14,100 per year in the automotive business and Mary was earning approximately $17,900 per year as a public school teacher. At the time of the trial, Howard was earning approximately $65,000 as a parts and service director at Patty Peck Honda, and Mary was earning approximately $35,000 as a public school teacher. However, at the time of trial, one child was born to the marriage, Ryan Lawson, born on July 21, 1982.
¶4 In 1982, Mary's father, J.B. Lawson, gave the couple $20,000 to pay down on a conventional house on Springdale Road in Jackson. Mr. Lawson also loaned them approximately $12,000 to add a larger den and to remodel the kitchen. In August of 1989, Mr. Lawson died. Mary testified that prior to her father's death, she and her father talked about her selling his house on Woodstock and his house on Pepper Ridge and using the proceeds from the sale of those houses to build a house for her and Howard, which would also accommodate his wife, Mary's mother.
¶5 Between August of 1989 and July of 1992, Mary and Howard decided to build a 3,600 square foot house at 123 Carriage Lane in Madison, Mississippi. The proceeds from the sale of Mary's father's houses, the equity from the sale of the couple's home on Springdale Road, along with various Certificate of Deposits worth about $60,000, were used to build the house. At the time of completion, the house was appraised for $285,000, with an outstanding mortgage of approximately $70,000. At the time of the trial, the mortgage on the house had been reduced to approximately $68,000.
¶6 In July of 1992, Mary, Howard and Ryan, along with Mary's mother, moved into the house with Mary's mother occupying a separate apartment attached to the house. A year and three months later, October of 1993, the couple separated and Howard left the marital home to live in a house trailer nearby. Shortly thereafter, Mary filed a complaint for divorce alleging uncondoned adultery and, alternatively, irreconcilable differences.
Page 264
¶7 On September 2, 1994, Mary was granted a divorce. The chancellor's order provided for the settlement of child custody, support, visitation, alimony and the division of real and personal property. The final judgment of divorce was entered on October 12, 1994. Mary was awarded custody of Ryan, and Howard was granted reasonable visitation. Mary was also awarded full use and ownership of the marital house; the Medley/Schwab account, valued at $46,000; an A.B. Culbertson account, valued at $19,212.21; her teacher's retirement account, valued at $36,000; her annuity account, valued at approximately $4,800; her credit union account, valued at $5,062.12; a checking account valued at $700; and a 1991 Dodge Caravan. She was also awarded $560 per month in child support; $683 per month in periodic alimony; and attorneys' fees and expenses totaling $4,352.92.
¶8 Howard was awarded the pontoon boat, valued between $5,000 and $6,000; a 401K plan, valued at $1,300; an A.B. Culbertson/I.R.A. account, valued at $9,000; a bicycle rack; a stereo receiver; a turntable; tapes; and a watercolor painting. Howard was also required to maintain health insurance for Ryan, and a life insurance policy in the amount of $170,000 with Ryan named as the beneficiary.
¶9 During his direct appeal, Howard argued that: (1) the lower court erred in restricting his visitation to times when his paramour was not present; (2) that the lower court erred in awarding Mary attorneys' fees in the amount of $3,500 plus expenses of $852.92; (3) the lower court failed to consider together the equitable distribution of the marital assets, the award of periodic alimony, and the award of child...
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Lowrey v. Lowrey, No. 2007-CA-01988-SCT.
...law to the facts at hand create error. Failure to make an on-the-record Armstrong analysis is manifest error. See Henderson v. Henderson, 703 So.2d 262, 266 (Miss.1997); Armstrong, 618 So.2d at 1280. ¶ 8. The minimal findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding equitable division resul......
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Burnham-Steptoe v. Steptoe, No. 97-CA-00428-COA.
...lump sum or periodic alimony payment, and mutual obligations for child support should be considered together." Henderson v. Henderson, 703 So.2d 262 (¶ 18) (Miss.1997), (quoting Ferguson, 639 So.2d at 929). As the chancellor noted in the present case, Ms. Steptoe was not entitled to receive......
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Carney v. Carney, NO. 2015-CA-00222-SCT
...bestowed sole ownership of the home upon the spouse whose parents had made the contribution. Id. (citing Henderson v. Henderson , 703 So.2d 262, 265 (Miss. 1997) ). The Court quoted Henderson's reasoning that, “[t]he fact that Mary's parents gave her a significant portion of the down paymen......
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Singley v. Singley, No. 1999-CT-00754-SCT.
...chancellor should have considered when he divided the property, but it is not the only factor to be considered." Henderson v. Henderson, 703 So.2d 262, 265 (Miss.1997). This same principle was noted when the chancellor ultimately held in Carrow II that Betty Jean Carrow should be entitled t......
-
Lowrey v. Lowrey, No. 2007-CA-01988-SCT.
...law to the facts at hand create error. Failure to make an on-the-record Armstrong analysis is manifest error. See Henderson v. Henderson, 703 So.2d 262, 266 (Miss.1997); Armstrong, 618 So.2d at 1280. ¶ 8. The minimal findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding equitable division resul......
-
Burnham-Steptoe v. Steptoe, No. 97-CA-00428-COA.
...lump sum or periodic alimony payment, and mutual obligations for child support should be considered together." Henderson v. Henderson, 703 So.2d 262 (¶ 18) (Miss.1997), (quoting Ferguson, 639 So.2d at 929). As the chancellor noted in the present case, Ms. Steptoe was not entitled to receive......
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Carney v. Carney, NO. 2015-CA-00222-SCT
...bestowed sole ownership of the home upon the spouse whose parents had made the contribution. Id. (citing Henderson v. Henderson , 703 So.2d 262, 265 (Miss. 1997) ). The Court quoted Henderson's reasoning that, “[t]he fact that Mary's parents gave her a significant portion of the down paymen......
-
Singley v. Singley, No. 1999-CT-00754-SCT.
...chancellor should have considered when he divided the property, but it is not the only factor to be considered." Henderson v. Henderson, 703 So.2d 262, 265 (Miss.1997). This same principle was noted when the chancellor ultimately held in Carrow II that Betty Jean Carrow should be entitled t......