Reeves v. Reeves, 53241

Citation410 So.2d 1300
Decision Date03 February 1982
Docket NumberNo. 53241,53241
PartiesPatsilu Sheely REEVES v. Carl Montgomery REEVES.
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Mississippi

Harlon H. Varnado, Eddie H. Bowen, Jackson, for appellant.

Richard E. Stratton, III, Brookhaven, for appellee.

Before SUGG, P. J., and WALKER and HAWKINS, JJ.

HAWKINS, Justice for the Court.

Patsilu Sheely Reeves appeals from a final decree of the Chancery Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County granting her a divorce from her husband, Carl Montgomery Reeves, but only allowing her $6,000.00 lump sum alimony, and decreeing sole ownership in Mr. Reeves of certain certificates of deposit in both their names.

Her appeal has the following assignments of error:

(1) The trial court erred in awarding appellant an insufficient amount in lump sum alimony;

(2) The lower court erred in not awarding appellant a monthly sum for support (3) The trial court erred in not awarding the appellant one-half (1/2) of the certificates of deposits jointly owned by appellant and appellee.

There is no cross appeal. We reverse.

Mr. and Mrs. Reeves married July 23, 1972, and finally separated October 23, 1980. They have no children. Her bill of complaint for divorce on the ground of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment was filed October 24, 1980. She was 31 at the time of the trial in March, 1981. Following their marriage in Starkville, they moved to a one-room apartment in Jackson. Mr. Reeves was employed with the Prudential Insurance Company. When they married, neither owned any realty in Jackson. From their marriage until March, 1973, Mrs. Reeves assisted her husband in his insurance business, typing letters and insurance proposals, looking up numbers in the daily credit report, calling people about mortgage insurance, and taking clients' messages. Mr. Reeves remained with Prudential until the middle of 1978.

Mrs. Reeves worked as a social hostess for Mrs. William Waller from March, 1973, until December, 1974. She then got a job at Hinds Junior College, and eventually taught the hotel-motel-restaurant management program. While employed with Hinds County Junior College, her annual salary increased from $11,555.52 in 1976 to $16,850.00 in 1979. During this time, she attended courses in Business Education one or two nights a week at Mississippi College in 1978. With her salary, she made contributions to the household, paying the utility, grocery and cleaning bills. In December, 1979, she quit her employment, and thereafter worked full-time for her husband.

They purchased in their own names and moved into a house on Glen Mary Street. The house was in poor condition, and Mrs. Reeves worked with her husband, as well as the carpenter, laying tile, renovating the bathroom, removing a ceiling, painting and doing general repair work to the house. The purchase money for the house was financed from funds from Mr. Reeves' father. After improvements were made, Mr. Reeves had an opportunity to sell the property at a profit, and he asked Mrs. Reeves to sign the deed and split the profit of approximately $9,000.00. She signed the deed, but never received any of the profit. Mr. Reeves used the profit to invest in a savings account in the name of his mother and himself. At the time of their separation, the parties owned in their joint name a residence on 5890 Ferncreek Drive in Jackson. Although he did not leave Prudential Insurance Company until 1978, Mr. Reeves formed a company called "Carl Monty Reeves Properties" in September, 1977, and he and Mrs. Reeves started buying houses through a joint bank account. Mrs. Reeves assisted by writing checks, reconciling bank statements, picking up building materials, keeping track of materials, collecting rents, and doing whatever she or her husband felt was necessary to promote the business. She worked from an office they had at their home until December, 1979, when she quit her job. Thereafter she worked full-time at the business office, and did manual labor repairing one of the rental properties. She had her own office in the business office, and helped in collecting rent, preparing leases, paying bills, keeping records, and in generally assisting her husband in the conduct of the business.

Mrs. Reeves received no salary or financial remuneration for any of the work she did during their marriage. All properties were purchased in the sole name of Mr. Reeves, with the exception of their home. He told her that by their working together they could build for their future.

When the parties married, Mr. Reeves told his wife they should save as much as they could and invest it so that they would be able to do what they wanted in later years.

The first property purchased by Mr. Reeves consisted of 35 acres in Lincoln County. Joint funds of the parties were used to make payments on the property, and there were three payments which came from funds Mrs. Reeves had earned or borrowed, namely: November 23, 1975-$1,000.00; November, 1976-$1,455.00; and May 27, 1977-$1,430.00. Unknown to Mrs. Reeves, Mr. Reeves deeded this property to his mother, Mrs. Clyde M. Reeves, and there is evidence that Mrs. Reeves intended to execute a deed of this property back to her son, but never did.

After the parties separated in October, 1980, Mrs. Reeves was unable to secure employment, and went to Monroe County to live with her mother. Her mother had to support her, and even loaned her the money to pay her attorney's fees in the litigation. Mrs. Reeves was unemployed at the time of the trial.

Mrs. Reeves ground of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment was supported by corroborating evidence, including photographs.

At the trial, the chancellor awarded a final divorce to Mrs. Reeves, but was of the opinion she was able to support herself, and should not receive any permanent alimony. The chancellor was of the opinion she should receive lump sum alimony in the amount of $6,000.00, payable over a six-month period.

The record reflects that Mr. Reeves accumulated a great deal of property, and that his wife materially assisted him in his business, and in his investment practices. She invested some of her own money, as well as funds from their joint account. Additionally, Mrs. Reeves paid the grocery, utility and cleaning bills, which...

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19 cases
  • Retzer v. Retzer
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • December 12, 1990
    ...second factor, as first stated in Jenkins, supra, was in being a dutiful, faithful housewife. In Clark and thereafter in Reeves v. Reeves, 410 So.2d 1300 (Miss.1982), we noted that these holdings did not "make Mississippi a community property state, but further delineate the serious respons......
  • Ferguson v. Ferguson, 92-CA-00058
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • July 7, 1994
    ...Also, this Court has allowed lump sum alimony as an adjustment to property division to prevent unfair division. Reeves v. Reeves, 410 So.2d 1300, 1303 (Miss.1982); Clark v. Clark, 293 So.2d 447, 449 (Miss.1974); Jenkins v. Jenkins, 278 So.2d 446, 449 (Miss.1973). The lump sum award has been......
  • LaRue v. LaRue
    • United States
    • West Virginia Supreme Court
    • May 25, 1983
    ...her husband's assets to compensate her not only for economic contributions made but also for homemaker services. E.g., Reeves v. Reeves, 410 So.2d 1300 (Miss.1982); Clark v. Clark, 293 So.2d 447 (Miss.1974). 8 In Jenkins v. Jenkins, 278 So.2d 446 (Miss.1973), the court made this statement a......
  • Hemsley v. Hemsley
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • July 7, 1994
    ...based upon a showing of material or substantial contribution. See e.g., Jones v. Jones, 532 So.2d 574, 580 (Miss.1988); Reeves v. Reeves, 410 So.2d 1300 (Miss.1982); Clark v. Clark, 293 So.2d 447 The majority's attempt to define marital property fails also because it focuses on the facts pe......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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