Morrow v. Morrow

• Decision Date: 05 July 2000
• Docket Number: No. S00A0977.,S00A0977.
• Citation: Morrow v. Morrow, 272 Ga. 557, 532 S.E.2d 672 (Ga. 2000)
• Parties: MORROW v. MORROW.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

532 S.E.2d 672

272 Ga. 557

MORROW v. MORROW.

No. S00A0977.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

July 5, 2000.

Jeb W. Chatham, Ellijay, for appellant.

David E. Ralston, Blue Ridge, for appellee.

HUNSTEIN, Justice.

Connie and Jimmy Morrow were first divorced in March 1988 shortly after the couple had begun constructing a residence on a .23-acre piece of North Carolina property given Jimmy by his family. The divorce decree awarded the property to Jimmy subject to an equitable lien which would be extinguished only when Jimmy paid in full either a $4,000 lump-sum amount of child support or a $5,000 sum to be paid in monthly installments. The parties started seeing each other shortly after the divorce and were living together within a year. Jimmy ceased paying child support around this time and it is uncontroverted the equitable lien placed on the property by the 1988 divorce decree was never extinguished. Connie provided both physical labor and financial contributions towards the construction of the residence and obtained the building permit for the structure in August 1989, at which time the exterior of the house was basically completed but little interior work had been done. The parties remarried two years after their divorce in March 1990. In 1998, Connie filed again for divorce and sought an equitable division of the North Carolina property. No evidence was introduced regarding the value of the home at the time of the remarriage. At a bench trial, the trial court found that the property was the marital residence with a fair market value of $40,000; that Jimmy was entitled to two set off credits ($2,000 to reflect the gift of the real property to Jimmy by his family and $1,022 to reimburse Jimmy for the payments he made to Connie towards satisfying the equitable lien placed on the property by the first divorce); and awarded Connie $18,989 of the remaining $37,978 value.

We granted Jimmy's discretionary application to this Court to consider whether, incident to the couples' 1999 divorce, the trial court erred in ordering the equitable division of the North Carolina property and if so, what is the proper disposition of such property. Finding no error in the trial court's judgment, we affirm.

Jimmy contends that this case is controlled by Moore v. Moore, 249 Ga. 27, 287 S.E.2d 185 (1982). We held in that case that property awarded to one spouse after a divorce becomes that spouse's sole and separate property and remains the spouse's separate estate notwithstanding the subsequent remarriage of the parties. "[O]nly the real and personal property and assets acquired by the parties during marriage is subject to equitable property division. [Cit.]" Id. at 28(2), 287 S.E.2d 185. While we reaffirm our holding in Moore, we find that case distinguishable. Here, Jimmy has acknowledged that the appreciation in value of the home during the marriage as a result of the efforts of the couple was a marital asset subject to equitable division. See Avera v. Avera, 268 Ga. 4(1), 485 S.E.2d 731 (1997). However, there was no evidence adduced to establish the value of the house at the time of the remarriage. Contrary to Jimmy's contention, evidence estimating the cost of the completed building at $10,000 to $12,000 did not establish the value of the house at the time of the remarriage¹ since the evidence adduced clearly reflected that the house at that time was not complete, having only exterior walls and roof but not wiring or plumbing and with other interior work left to be done. Testimony and documentary evidence regarding the house as it existed at the time of the divorce establish that the home had been finished, with a covered porch, completed kitchen and bath, flooring and extensive interior woodworking.

[I]n determining the manner in which marital

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