WHEAT V. WHEAT

• Decision Date: 24 June 2010
• Docket Number: NO. 2008-CA-00476-SCT,2008-CA-00476-SCT
• Parties: JUDITHR. WHEAT v. JAMESM. WHEAT
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

JUDITHR. WHEAT

v.JAMESM. WHEAT

NO. 2008-CA-00476-SCT

Supreme Court Of Mississippi

June 24, 2010

DATE OF JUDGMENT:03/19/2008

TRIAL JUDGE: HON. JAYE A. BRADLEY

COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: JACKSON COUNTY CHANCERY COURT

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: DEAN HOLLEMAN

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: GARY L. ROBERTS

NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL-DOMESTIC RELATIONS

DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED IN PART AND REMANDED-06/24/2010

MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:

MANDATE ISSUED: EN BANC.

CARLSON, PRESIDING JUSTICE, FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Judith R. Wheat and James M. Wheat were divorced on October 10, 2007, on the ground of uncondoned adultery, in the Chancery Court of Jackson County. Also at issue in these divorce proceedings was the distribution of assets to the parties. Chancellor Jaye A. Bradley entered the Final Judgment of Divorce; the October 2, 2007, Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law; and the February 14, 2008, Supplemental Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, and Judith R. Wheat appeals. For the reasons stated, the Jackson County Chancery Court's final judgment is affirmed in part; reversed in part; and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS IN THE TRIAL COURT

¶2. Judith R. Wheat (Judy) and James M. Wheat (James) were married on January 9, 1988. One son, James G. Wheat (Jamie), was born to the couple on October 12, 1989. During the marriage, Judy was employed by Northrop Grumman in Pascagoula. She worked there for more than thirty years. She was promoted throughout her tenure with the company and eventually served as a program manager. Around September 2004, Judy began an adulterous relationship with one of her superiors at Northrop Grumman. This led to her decision to resign from her position to prevent any adverse effect on her paramour's employment at Northrop Grumman. As a result, Judy's employer offered her a severance package that included a $395,000 gross, lump-sum payment with a net amount of $267,707.50. On her financial declaration, Judy's adjusted gross monthly income from the severance was reported as $6,087.63 in 2005, and $6,549 in 2006, and was set to end in May 2007. After she left Northrop Grumman, Judy started a venture called Updates, LLC. The purpose of this limited-liability company was to buy and resell real property, as well as resell special-order furniture. At the time of trial, Judy testified that this venture had produced no income for her.

¶3. As a result of Judy's adulterous affair, relations between the couple became acrimonious. Judy and James separated on or about March 1, 2005. Judy filed a Complaint for Divorce in the Chancery Court of Jackson County on April 6, 2005. She sought a divorce from James based on irreconcilable differences. The parties failed to reach an agreement.

¶4. On May 27, 2005, James filed his Answer and Counterclaim in which he sought a divorce on the ground of uncondoned adultery. Additionally, James sought custody of the minor child, child support, health insurance, use and benefit of the marital home, equitable division of marital assets and liabilities, alimony, and attorney's fees. Judy did not file an answer to the counterclaim.

¶5. On November 15 and 16, 2006, a trial was held, with both parties presenting evidence and being represented by counsel. On the first day of trial, Judy's complaint for divorce was dismissed due to lack of consent from James pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 93-5-2 (Rev. 2004). The trial was continued until January 5, 2007, when the parties completed their presentation of evidence. Judy admitted to uncondoned adultery, and the trial court subsequently granted the divorce on that ground pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 93-5-1 (Rev. 2004). The trial court issued its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on October 2, 2007. The Final Judgment of Divorce was entered October 10, 2007.

¶6. Following the trial, there was a question concerning the value of James's Merchants & Marine Bank pension plan. The court subsequently ordered an expert to determine the value of the pension. The expert showed the value of James's pension plan to be $7,298.25 at the time of marriage. As of April 1, 2007, the value was $180,484.44. The trial court, in its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, did not find the pension plan to be separate property, but did find that Judy had relinquished any interest in the pension. In doing so, the court referenced an exhibit that contained a letter written by Judy's counsel, William E. Tisdale, and addressed to James's counsel, Gary L. Roberts, stating: "I have checked with Mrs. Wheat concerning Mr. Wheat's retirement from M&M Bank. She is agreeable that Mr. Wheat can keep his retirement which is estimated at $180,000.00."

¶7. James filed a Motion for Reconsideration, New Trial, Alteration or Amendment of Judgment or Relief from Judgment on the basis that the judgment incorrectly classified James's nonmarital property and failed to divide the marital assets and liabilities equitably. In support of this motion, James presented an affidavit from Royce Cumbest, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Merchants and Marine Bank. Cumbest attested that James's pension plan was effective November 1, 1970, and was funded by the bank in an amount that was determined on an actuarial basis until 1984. Thus, in 1984, the bank had ceased to make any further contributions to the pension plan. Following a hearing on this motion on January 22, 2008, at which both parties presented oral arguments, the chancery court issued its Supplemental Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, finding that, during oral arguments, Judy's counsel had conceded that the pension plan was the nonmarital property of James.

¶8. Additionally, the trial court, in its Supplemental Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, found that Judy's Northrop Grumman Financial Security and Savings Plan should be classified as a marital asset subject to equitable distribution. As a result, the court ordered Judy to prepare and execute a qualified domestic-relations order that would award James $91,458 from the Northrop Grumman savings plan.

¶9. Aggrieved by this judgment, Judy timely appealed.

DISCUSSION

¶10. Judy alleges eight errors on the part of the chancery court and lists them as follows:

(1) The [trial] court erred by including as a marital asset Judy's May 2005 severance agreement proceeds which covered what she would have earned between May 2005 and her earliest retirement date of May 2007, a period after the date of separation;

(2) The [trial] court erred by the inclusion as a marital asset of the "bridge" IRA account received by Judy in connection with her severance agreement of May 2007 representing the amount of contribution she would have received had she remained employed from May 2005 [through] May 2007;

(3) The [trial] court erred in the exclusion as a marital asset that portion of James's M&M pension plan which was attributable to the years of service that overlapped the sixteen years of marriage up to the separation of the parties in 2005;

(4) The [trial] court erred in the exclusion as a marital asset James's Merchants & Marine stock which had been commingled and jointly owned by the parties during the marriage;

(5) The [trial] court erred in the exclusion as a marital asset James's Morgan Keegan IRA [as] there was not sufficient evidence beyond a mere demonstration that said asset was accumulated prior to [or] outside the marriage;

(6) The [trial] court erred in finding the first mortgage assumed by James had a balance of $116,658.00 and in ordering Judy to be responsible for the second mortgage/credit line liability of $40,816.00 on the martial home;

(7) The [trial] court erred in ordering Judy to pay [monthly] child support in the amount of $750.00 when said amount was not based upon Judy's actual adjusted gross income, said support exceeded the statutory guidelines and the same was awarded notwithstanding the court's finding of the absence of any extraordinary needs or expenses;

(8) The [trial] court erred in finding Judy's severance package as an asset subject to equitable distribution and also using the monthly withdrawals from said fund as the basis for ordering child support.

¶11. This Court's scope of review in domestic-relations matters is limited by the familiar substantial-evidence/manifest-error rule. R.K. v. J.K., 946 So. 2d 764, 772 (Miss. 2007) (citing Mizell v. Mizell, 708 So. 2d 55, 59 (Miss. 1998)). This Court will not disturb the findings of a chancellor unless the chancellor was manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous, or an erroneous legal standard was applied. Id. Particularly in the areas of divorce and child support, this Court must respect a chancellor's findings of fact which are supported by credible evidence and not manifestly wrong. Id. Manifest error is that error which is unmistakable, clear, plain, or indisputable. Magee v. Magee, 661 So. 2d 1117, 1122 (Miss. 1995). Questions of law, however, are reviewed under a de novo standard. Townsend v. Townsend, 859 So. 2d 370, 372 (Miss. 2003) (citing Stacy v. Ross, 798 So. 2d 1275, 1277 (Miss. 2001); Zeman v. Stanford, 789 So. 2d 798, 802 (Miss. 2001)).

¶12. For the sake of clarity in today's discussion, the eight issues listed above have been combined and restated.

I. WHETHER THE CHANCELLOR ERRED IN CLASSIFYING AS MARITAL PROPERTY JUDY'S 2005 EMPLOYMENT SEVERANCE AGREEMENT AND "BRIDGE" IRA ACCOUNT.

¶13. Judy argues that her 2005 Employment Severance Agreement in the amount of $267,707 (after withholding) and her "bridge" IRA account in the amount of $52,448, were erroneously classified as marital property, because those funds were distributed to her after the separation. James argues that the chancellor applied the law correctly, as the assets were distributed prior to the divorce, and no separate-maintenance or temporary-support orders were issued in this case.

¶14. The guidelines that chancellors must employ in equitable...