Monroe v. Monroe, 91-CA-997

• Decision Date: 17 December 1992
• Docket Number: No. 91-CA-997,91-CA-997
• Citation: 612 So.2d 353
• Parties: Rebecca MONROE v. James MONROE.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 353

612 So.2d 353

Rebecca MONROE v. James MONROE.

No. 91-CA-997.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Dec. 17, 1992.

Roger H. McMillin, Jr., Sumners Carter & McMillin, New Albany, for appellant.

Pamela Loftin Hall and Michael Malski, Carnathan & Malski, Amory, for appellee.

Before ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., and SULLIVAN and PITTMAN, JJ.

PITTMAN, Justice, for the court:

The Appellant, Rebecca Monroe, was awarded a divorce on the grounds of desertion. By mutual agreement, custody of the two minor children was granted to the natural father, James (Jim) Monroe. Pursuant to the divorce, the Chancellor awarded Rebecca Monroe $12,000 in lump sum alimony. Following the divorce, Rebecca experienced bouts with mental illness, and was committed to Charter Hospital for care. Rebecca's attorney filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied by the chancellor. After considering the circumstances of this case, we find that the chancellor abused his discretion in failing to award Rebecca Monroe any periodic alimony.

I.

Jim Monroe and Rebecca Webb Monroe were married on August 21, 1970 in Brandon, Mississippi. Both being recent college graduates, the couple moved to Fort Worth, Texas, to enable Jim to attend Southwest Theological Seminary. Jim had earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Mississippi College, and was interested in a counseling curriculum at the Seminary in Fort Worth. Rebecca supported the family by working as a teacher's assistant there for the year. However, when Christmas came, Jim decided that the counseling program was not for him. After expressing his desire to attend medical school, Jim was told that he needed to improve his undergraduate grades. The Monroes moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, so that Jim could attend the University of Southern Mississippi.

Once in Hattiesburg, Rebecca obtained a teaching position at Oak Grove High School, and the couple moved into student housing on the USM campus. Since their marriage, Rebecca supported the couple on her teacher's salary. Following a year of teaching at Oak Grove High School, Rebecca worked at the Small Business Administration for the summer, before accepting a teaching position at Prentiss High School for the next year. Rebecca made this ninety mile commute each day for three years. Jim, while enrolled as a full time student was employed as a student worker on campus, working at the greenhouse and occasionally washing dishes.

After five and a half years at USM, Jim was accepted into the Kansas City College of Osteopath Medicine in 1976. The Monroe's moved to Independence, Missouri, where Rebecca got a teaching position in the Grandview Public School System, some twenty-five miles away. While in medical school, Jim was awarded a public health scholarship, which paid for his tuition and books, as well as giving him a $400 stipend to be used for living expenses. This scholarship is given to individuals who agree to work in rural environments following graduation in lieu of repaying the government for the student loans. The Monroe's were able to live in a subsidized townhouse system, with an initial cost of $800. When the Monroe's moved out, they were refunded $1,500. The first year of medical school proved difficult for Jim, and the school requested that he repeat his first year. It therefore took Jim five years to graduate from medical school.

While Jim was enrolled in medical school, Rebecca was working three jobs to support the family. Besides her teaching position, both she and Jim worked for their church performing custodial tasks on Sunday and Wednesday nights. Finally, Rebecca worked with children after school each day in an arts and crafts program. The money she received from the arts and craft program, which was about $100 a month, was used as her "pin" money. Rebecca used this "pin" money to buy gifts, furnishings, and pay for some graduate school courses in literature. Rebecca stopped teaching in 1980 when she became pregnant with their first child, Anna. At that time, Jim had one and a half years remaining in medical school.

While Jim was in medical school, Rebecca withdrew money set aside for her retirement, which amounted to $200 from the Mississippi Retirement System and $5,000 from the Missouri Retirement System. This money was deposited in a savings account which covered overdrafts from the Monroe's checking account. By the end of medical school, the savings account had been entirely depleted.

Upon graduation in May, 1981, Jim accepted an eighteen month internship in Battle Creek, Michigan, paying $25,000 a year. After his internship was completed in December, 1982, the family moved to Smithville, Mississippi, wherein Jim accepted employment as a physician with Three Rivers Health Care, Inc. at a starting salary of $54,000. The Monroes were provided with a rent-free house in which they lived for two and a half months before finding a place of their own. The Monroes had another daughter, Sarah in 1983, nine months after moving to Smithville. After having settled in Smithville, the Monroes purchased life insurance policies and began to accumulate savings averaging between $1,500 and $5,000. They soon purchased twenty acres of land nearby, which they had titled jointly.

On August 7, 1987, Rebecca was admitted into Charter Hospital in Jackson for treatment of emotional and psychological problems. Her stay there lasted until September 4, 1987, incurring $9,000 in medical bills. Approximately ten days after her admittance to Charter, Jim brought a deed to the jointly held twenty acres, which he asked Rebecca to sign, to allow him to sell the property and use some of the proceeds to pay her medical bills. Rebecca executed this deed and the property was sold for $20,000. Jim paid Rebecca's $9,000 medical expenses and kept the rest of the money, stating that he paid off the remaining $3,000-4,000 mortgage on the property. Five days after signing the deed, Jim visited Rebecca in the hospital and the subject of divorce was first discussed.

There was another instance while Rebecca was in the hospital where Jim tried to get Rebecca to sign a document giving up her claim to any of Jim's pension benefits. However, even in her vulnerable condition, she refused to sign the document. On the day of Rebecca's release, September 4, 1987, Jim informed her that he wanted a divorce and that she need not return home to Smithville, but should go live with her mother in Brandon. He later left all of her clothes in the hospital waiting room. Rebecca stated that the savings account, checking account, and credit cards had been changed to Jim's name only, thereby denying her access to their use. Rebecca moved to Brandon and lived with her mother.

Jim gave Rebecca $200 that day, and sent the same amount each week. In March, 1988, Rebecca received a letter from Jim stating his intention to stop supporting her as of August, 1989. However, this support stopped in March, 1989. Rebecca did not receive any further support until she was awarded temporary alimony in the amount of $550 a month. During this separation period, both daughters remained in the custody of the father in Amory, Mississippi. Rebecca testified that during the separation period up until temporary alimony was granted, she received $9,100 in support as well as a car and a year's car tag and insurance. Rebecca went back to teaching for two years during this separation, however, she stopped teaching pursuant to instructions from her psychiatrist. She now works at Domino's Pizza, earning $400 a month. Rebecca hopes to return to teaching following her medical leave of absence.

At the time this suit was filed, Rebecca was forty-one years old. She estimates her monthly living expenses at $2,305, which includes allocations for expenses which she presently does not have, such as rent and money for a yearly vacation. Rebecca claims that she withdrew $6,000 from her IRA following her separation, and borrowed $2,500 from her mother to pay legal expenses. She states that she is unable to pay future legal expenses.

Jim projected his 1989 income to be $91,000. This is derived from his $72,000 salary at Three Rivers Health Care, Inc., $15,000 in income received from working in the emergency room at a hospital in Amory, and $4,000 that he received from serving in the National Guard. His income for 1988 was $96,000 and for 1987 was $98,355. Jim attributes this decrease in income to the fact that he works less than in years past, opting to spend more time with his children. At the time of this suit, Jim was forty-five years old. He testified that the only property that he and Rebecca had accumulated during their marriage was the twenty acres of land which were sold to pay Rebecca's hospital bills. He claims that the remainder of the sale proceeds went to paying off the remaining mortgage and to reimburse him for architect's fees associated with landscaping the property. A Deposit Guaranty statement reveals $36,886 in total contributions to Jim's pension plan at Three Rivers Health Care. Jim also lists an IRA at J.C. Bradford consisting of $15,326 and a savings account containing $2,000 as assets. He did not deny the fact that he tried to get Rebecca to sign away her claim to any of his pension fund because he wanted all the money himself.

Rebecca was awarded a divorce on the grounds of desertion. She had tried to reconcile with Jim, but to no avail. Pursuant to the divorce decree, Jim was granted custody of the children and Rebecca was granted visitation rights. The chancellor awarded Rebecca $12,000 lump sum alimony, stating that since she was an educated woman that she should be able to support herself.

Subsequent to the divorce decree, Rebecca was diagnosed as manic depressant and was ordered to be committed to Charter Hospital for treatment on June 13, 1990. This commitment stemmed from an incident where Rebecca was found totally naked outside her apartment screaming and slamming the...