Roof v. Steele
| Decision Date | 27 January 2012 |
| Docket Number | No. 4921.,4921. |
| Court | South Carolina Court of Appeals |
| Parties | Yancey ROOF, Respondent, v. Kenneth A. STEELE, Appellant. |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Max N. Pickelsimer, of Columbia, for Appellant.
Jean P. Derrick, of Lexington, for Respondent.
Kenneth A. Steele (Husband) appeals from the family court's order granting modification of alimony and attorney's fees to his former wife, Yancey Roof (Wife). Husband argues the family court erred in modifying alimony and awarding attorney's fees. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Husband and Wife married in 1993 and divorced in 2006. They have seventeen-year-old twins. The parties' Final Decree of Divorce (Decree) incorporated a prior agreement regarding alimony, division of real and personal property, transfer of funds to “equalize the division of marital property,” and responsibility for payment of debts and attorney's fees.
Regarding alimony, the Decree required Husband to make permanent periodic payments of $300 per month and to pay Wife's health insurance premiums. As to the health insurance component of alimony, the Decree provided:
E. [Husband] shall maintain health, dental and optical insurance on [Wife] through the group policy with his current employer so long as it is available to him. Any premium paid by [Husband] for [Wife's] health, dental and optical insurance shall be considered alimony, and shall be taxable as income to [Wife], and shall be deductible by [Husband]. Currently, the premium is $87.74.
The Decree stated the family court had “questioned the parties regarding their agreement, and their understanding of its terms.” Thereafter, based on the parties' testimony and evidence, the court made Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. With respect to the modification of alimony, the Decree stated:
8. [T]he parties further understand that issues of child custody, child support and visitation, as well as any future modification of alimony are reviewable by the Court based upon a showing of a substantial change of condition. The parties further understand that alimony may also be terminated as provided by law.
Before the parties' divorce in February 2006, Husband's employer, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, confirmed that Husband could maintain Wife as a dependent on his health insurance policy following the divorce. At that time, Husband paid a monthly premium of $87.74 for Wife's insurance coverage.
In April 2008, however, Husband's employer notified employees that it would no longer provide former spouses with dependent coverage as of June 1, 2008. Upon termination of Wife's coverage, she would become eligible for nine months of comparable coverage under COBRA at a monthly premium of $462.60.
In May 2008, Wife filed a complaint seeking to modify alimony based upon the occurrence of “a substantial change in circumstances since the issuance of the Decree of Divorce.” In her complaint, Wife explained that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000; since then, she had required extensive health care services. Wife stated her health insurance coverage, then available through Husband's employer, would terminate on June 1, 2008. Thereafter, she would become eligible for COBRA coverage for nine months. After her COBRA eligibility terminated on February 27, 2009, Wife contended the only coverage available to her was through the South Carolina State Health Insurance Pool, “at a very substantial monthly premium.” Wife asserted that following the parties' divorce, Husband's income has increased significantly, while her income has remained the same. Moreover, Wife contended Husband has acquired property, while she “has not acquired any further property, and has barely managed to make a living since the divorce.” Wife asked the court to grant pendente lite and permanent relief by modifying her alimony to include payment of COBRA premiums; payment of Insurance Pool premiums upon termination of COBRA eligibility; and payment of a portion of her uninsured medical expenses. Wife additionally asked the court to award her attorney's fees and costs.
In Husband's answer and counterclaim, he contended Wife's action was “without merit” because “the cancellation of [Wife's] coverage was anticipated at the time of the parties' divorce, and therefore does not constitute a substantial change of condition.” Husband also requested attorney's fees and costs.
In June 2008, the family court conducted a hearing on Wife's request for pendente lite relief. Wife sought an order requiring Husband to pay the COBRA premium of $462.60 a month after her “regular dependent coverage is converted to COBRA coverage.” The court's order stated: “The Court finds, and holds as a matter of law, that the terms of the Decree of Divorce already require [Husband] to pay this COBRA premium, to continue this BlueCross BlueShield coverage as long as it is available to [Wife].” The order stated all other issues would be decided at the final hearing on the merits.
Wife's COBRA coverage expired on March 1, 2009. Thereafter, Wife again petitioned the family court for pendente lite relief, seeking an order requiring Husband to pay her Insurance Pool premium of $1,193.93 per month. In May 2009, the court conducted a hearing on Wife's petition. Husband argued that under the express terms of the Decree, he had no obligation to pay Wife's Insurance Pool premium because the coverage was not offered by his employer. Husband contended the parties had contemplated “this lapse of coverage” at the time of their divorce, and he asserted that an “anticipated event does not constitute a change of circumstances.” The court agreed that the Decree no longer obligated Husband to pay Wife's health insurance premiums: “The Court concurs in [Husband's] argument that the [Insurance Pool] coverage is not equal to the BlueCross BlueShield coverage or COBRA coverage, so [Husband] at present has no ongoing duty per se under the Decree.” Yet, the court found that Wife has demonstrated “a change of circumstances and is entitled to supplemental pendente lite relief, all without prejudice to the position of either party at a final hearing on the merits.”
On February 4, 2010, the family court conducted a final hearing on the merits of Wife's request for modification of alimony and attorney's fees. At this hearing, Wife testified she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000; she stated “it just varies day to day as how it affects me.” Wife, who has a high school education, has worked since 1985 in a picture framing business, where she is a co-owner. In 2006, Wife was making $1,500 a month; she currently makes $1,080 a month and has taken out multiple loans to pay for her necessities. Wife testified that prior to the expiration of her COBRA benefits, she had requested quotes from several health insurance carriers; however, the carriers either denied coverage or offered policies that provided less coverage at a higher premium. As a result, Wife had determined the Insurance Pool, at a monthly premium of $1,247.65, provided the most economical coverage for her needs.
Husband testified he was making $60,000 in 2006; he currently makes $76,000 a year, and he owns a home, motorcycle, boat, truck, and four rental homes. Husband's mother died prior to the parties' divorce; subsequently, Husband inherited $260,000, from which he receives approximately $3,700 in annual interest. Husband also has a 401(K) account that is valued at $40,000. Husband testified the rental homes do not provide extra income to him because the rental income is used to make the mortgage payments.
Husband testified regarding his understanding of the Decree's alimony provision requiring him to pay Wife's health insurance premiums: Husband later commented on the express wording of the health insurance provision: “The reason we put the wording in there the way it is in there is because to protect myself if I was, if the insurance was not available through my group plan.”
Husband asserted: “I did what the [D]ecree said.” He contends he is no longer responsible for paying Wife's health insurance premiums because: Husband was asked if he had expected his employer to allow him to carry Wife as his dependent indefinitely; he responded: “No, I had no idea what the future would hold, and that's why we put the wording in there, to protect myself from exorbitant health insurance premiums in the future.” Husband argued that he had done exactly what the Decree required and added:
Husband's counsel argued the Decree “is clear and unambiguous”:
[Husband's] obligation to provide health insurance through his employer is only so long as it's available to him through his current employer. That is the sole basis for the substantial change of circumstances that [Wife] has alleged in her complaint. We believe that ... it's clear that a change of circumstances that's anticipated at the time of the decree cannot later be used as a change of circumstance to seek modification of that decree.... It's clear from [Wife's] testimony that she anticipated, she knew at the time of the decree that insurance may no longer be available to [Husband] at some point in time through his employer[,] be it through job transfer, job termination, [or] change of policy with BlueCross BlueShield.
Wife's counsel responded:
The agreement ... does not speak to the future about what happens if and when that coverage changes....
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