Stewart v. Stewart, No. COA99-1482.

• Decision Date: 29 December 2000
• Docket Number: No. COA99-1482.
• Parties: Renee Taylor STEWART, Plaintiff, v. Charles STEWART, Defendant.
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals

541 S.E.2d 209

141 NC App. 236

Renee Taylor STEWART, Plaintiff, v. Charles STEWART, Defendant.

No. COA99-1482.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

December 29, 2000.

Vernon, Vernon, Wooten, Brown, Andrews & Garrett, P.A., by Wiley P. Wooten and Thomas R. Peake, II, Burlington, for the plaintiff-appellant.

Wishart, Norris, Henninger & Pittman, P.A., by Pamela S. Duffy and Hillary D. Whitaker, Burlington, for the defendant-appellee.

WYNN, Judge.

Renee Taylor Stewart appeals from a 2 July 1999 trial court judgment concluding that she and her husband, Charles Stewart, waived claims for postseparation support, alimony, and certain property under a valid premarital agreement. She also appeals from a 5 August 1999 order holding that her husband's medical license is his separate property and therefore not subject to equitable distribution. We find no error.

On 25 June 1992, the marital parties signed a written Premarital Agreement under the North Carolina Uniform Premarital Agreement Act, N.C.Gen.Stat. §§ 52B-1 et seq. Neither party challenges the validity of the Agreement; rather, they dispute the interpretation of certain terms under the Agreement.

At the time of the parties' marriage in 1992, the husband held a medical license and owned an interest in Kernodle Clinic, a medical clinic. The parties separated in January 1998.

Pertinent to this appeal, in February 1998, the wife brought an action seeking postseparation support, alimony and equitable distribution. In response, the husband affirmatively pled that the terms of the Agreement barred his wife's claims for postseparation support, alimony and equitable distribution.

Following a motion hearing, the trial court granted summary judgment on 2 July 1999 in favor of the husband on the wife's claims for postseparation support and alimony. The trial court also granted to the husband partial summary judgment on his wife's claim for equitable distribution of certain property excluded by the terms of the agreement—the parties' respective retirement accounts and the husband's interest in Kernodle Clinic. The wife appeals to us from that 2 July 1999 judgment.

A second appealed from judgment arises from pretrial discovery issues. In March 1999, the wife served her husband with discovery requests, including interrogatories and a request for production of documents, seeking information related to his medical license and his interest in Kernodle Clinic. In response, her husband opposed her discovery requests by moving for a protective order; and, he moved under N.C.Gen.Stat. § 50-20(i1) for a declaration that his medical license and interest in Kernodle Clinic were his separate property. On 5 August 1999, the trial court declared the husband's medical license to be his separate property and therefore not subject to equitable distribution. The trial court also denied the wife's motion to compel her husband to respond to the discovery requests concerning his medical license and the value of his interest in Kernodle Clinic. The wife appeals to us from that 5 August 1999 order.

The wife first argues on appeal that the trial court erred under the 2 July 1999 order in construing the Agreement to waive her rights to postseparation support and alimony. Upon a careful review of the Agreement and the record as a whole, we find no error. Under the 2 July 1999 order, the trial court granted the husband summary judgment only as to the wife's claims for postseparation support and alimony, and partial summary judgment on the wife's claim for equitable distribution regarding property specifically addressed by the Agreement—the parties' retirement accounts and the husband's interest in Kernodle Clinic. On appeal, the husband asserts that since this order leaves further matters to be judicially determined between the parties at the trial court level (i.e., the matter of equitable distribution of property not specifically identified in the Agreement), it is interlocutory and therefore not appealable. See Rowe v. Rowe, 131 N.C.App. 409, 410, 507 S.E.2d 317, 318 (1998). However, we hold that because the trial court's order completely disposed of the gravamen of the issues raised, the order is immediately appealable. See Atassi v. Atassi, 117 N.C.App. 506, 509, 451 S.E.2d 371, 373, disc. review denied, 340 N.C. 109, 456 S.E.2d 310 (1995) (citations omitted); N .C.Gen.Stat. § 1-277 (1996).

The standard of review from summary judgment is "whether there is any genuine issue of material fact and whether the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Bruce Terminix Co. v. Zurich Ins. Co., 130 N.C.App. 729, 733, 504 S.E.2d 574, 577 (1998) (citation omitted). To make this determination, "the evidence presented by the parties must be viewed in the light most favorable to the non-movant." Id. Summary judgment is proper where "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that any party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." N.C.Gen.Stat. § 1A-1, Rule 56(c)(1990). Accordingly, the initial issue in this case is whether the Agreement irrefutably bars the wife's claims for postseparation support, alimony and equitable distribution.

The North Carolina Uniform Premarital Agreement Act governs premarital agreements in this state. N.C.Gen.Stat. §§ 52B-1 et seq. (1987 and Supp.1996). The parties acknowledge that the Act governs their Agreement. See N.C.Gen.Stat. § 52B-5 (1987). Under the Act, a premarital agreement may be used by parties to contract as to "[t]he modification or elimination of spousal support." N.C.Gen.Stat. § 52B-4(a)(4) (1987). Elsewhere, N.C.Gen.Stat. § 50-16.6(b) provides that "Alimony, postseparation support, and counsel fees may be barred by an express provision of a valid separation agreement or premarital agreement so long as the agreement is performed." N.C.Gen. Stat. § 50-16.6(b) (1995).

Generally, principles of construction applicable to contracts also apply to premarital agreements. Howell v. Landry, 96 N.C.App. 516, 525, 386 S.E.2d 610, 615 (1989) (citing Turner v. Turner, 242 N.C. 533, 539, 89 S.E.2d 245, 249 (1955)), disc. review denied, 326 N.C. 482, 392 S.E.2d 90 (1990); Hagler v. Hagler, 319 N.C. 287, 294, 354 S.E.2d 228, 234 (1987) ("When the language of a contract is clear and unambiguous, construction of the contract is a matter of law for the court.") Hartford Accident & Indent. Co. v. Hood, 226 N.C. 706, 710, 40 S.E.2d 198, 201 (1946) (citations omitted) (In interpreting contract language, the presumption is that the parties intended what the language used clearly expresses, and the contract must be construed to mean what on its face it purports to mean.)

In this case, Paragraph 13 of the Agreement provides:

Each of the parties forever waives, releases and relinquishes any right or claim of any kind, character, or nature whatsoever that either may have, or later acquire, in and to the estate, property, assets or other effects of the other party under any present or future law of any state; and each of the parties forever waives, releases and relinquishes any right or claim that he or she now has, or may hereafter acquire, pursuant to the provisions of G.S. 28A, 29, 30, 31 and 50 as such sections now exist or may hereafter be amended, or pursuant to any present or future law of the State of North Carolina.

(Emphasis added). Chapter 50 of the North Carolina General Statutes encompasses divorce, alimony and child support. This includes N.C.Gen.Stat. §§ 50-16.2A and -16.3A, which provide for postseparation support and alimony, respectively. See N.C.Gen.Stat. §§ 50-16.2A, -16.3A (1995).

The wife relies upon this Court's recent decision in Napier v. Napier, 135 N.C.App. 364, 520 S.E.2d 312 (1999), disc. review denied, 351 N.C. 358, 543 S.E.2d 132 (2000), to support her contention that the waiver provision in Paragraph 13 of the Agreement is vague and is therefore an unenforceable release of her rights to postseparation support and alimony. In Napier, at issue was a release term under a separation agreement that provided:

L. Mutual release: Subject to the rights and privileges provided for in this Agreement, each party does hereby release and discharge the other of and from all causes of action, claims, rights or demands whatsoever, at law or in equity, which either of the parties ever had or now has against the other, known or unknown, by reason of any matter, cause or thing up to the date of the execution of this Agreement, except the cause of action for divorce based upon the separation of the parties.

135 N.C.App. at 365-66, 520 S.E.2d at 313. This Court concluded that this broad language was not sufficiently "express" to constitute a valid waiver of alimony under N.C.Gen.Stat. § 50-16.6(b), as it did not "specifically, particularly, or explicitly refer to the waiver, release, or settlement of `alimony' or use some other similar language having specific reference to the waiver, release, or settlement of a spouse's support rights." Id. at 367, 520 S.E.2d at 314. The wife argues in the instant case that the waiver provision in Paragraph 13 of the Agreement is likewise overly ambiguous. We disagree.

Whereas the waiver in Napier was a mere blanket release of "all causes of action, claims, rights or demands whatsoever, at law or in equity," the waiver provision in Paragraph 13 of the Agreement in this case specifically and unambiguously waives all rights pursuant to Chapter 50 of the North Carolina General Statutes, which explicitly encompasses postseparation support and alimony. We, therefore, conclude that the language in the subject Agreement—drafted by the wife's attorney—was sufficiently "express" to constitute a valid and enforceable waiver of the wife's claims for postseparation support, pursuant to N.C.Gen.Stat. § 50-16.2A and alimony pursuant to N.C.Gen.Stat. § 50-16.3A.

The wife next...