Wiencek-Adams v. Adams

Citation331 N.C. 688,417 S.E.2d 449
Decision Date25 June 1992
Docket NumberNo. 4A92,WIENCEK-ADAMS,4A92
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of North Carolina
PartiesKathleen1 v. Roy Rex ADAMS.

Shipman & Lea by and Jennifer L. Umbaugh, Wilmington, for plaintiff-appellant.

David P. Ford, Long Beach, for defendant-appellee.

LAKE, Justice.

A Judgment of Absolute Divorce between the parties in this case was entered on 2 March 1989. The issues of custody, child support and equitable distribution were tried before Judge D. Jack Hooks, Jr. at the 1 December 1989 and 17 July 1990 sessions of the District Court, Brunswick County. The plaintiff appealed the trial court's order to the Court of Appeals, which rendered its opinion on 3 December 1991, with Judge Cozort dissenting.

The parties were married on 2 August 1981 and were separated on 3 January 1987; they have three daughters. At trial it was stipulated that at the time of the parties' separation there were two major assets: the husband's pension plan at Carolina Power & Light Company, which the court divided equally by way of a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, and the marital home located at 106 21st Street, Long Beach, North Carolina. On the date of separation, the fair market value of the home was $31,000.00, with an outstanding mortgage balance of $19,605.29, resulting in a net equity of $11,394.71. The parties had a joint marital debt to the Internal Revenue Service of $23,042.70 in back taxes for 1981 and 1982.

The evidence indicates that at the time of their separation, the parties reached the following agreement: the husband would pay all the back taxes; the husband would assume and make payments on the deed of trust on the marital home; the wife would take custody of the children and seek no child support from the husband until such time as the back taxes were paid. The parties carried out this agreement to the extent that the husband did pay off all of the tax debt without seeking reimbursement from the wife and the wife supported the children without seeking child support payments from the husband. The parties did not reduce their agreement to writing.

Following the separation, a dispute arose between the parties as to whether the agreement included a waiver by the wife of all her interest in the marital home as part of the consideration for the husband's paying the taxes. That dispute led to this contested action for equitable distribution.

After hearing the evidence, the trial court found that the parties' oral agreement had included a provision for the wife to convey her interest in the marital home in exchange for the husband's agreement to pay the taxes. However, the trial court also found as a fact that the parties had not committed to writing the terms of their agreement, as required by N.C.G.S. § 22-2, and therefore disregarded the agreement in its treatment of the issues in this case.

The trial court held that the husband could not have afforded to make any child support payments from the time of the parties' separation on 3 January 1987 to 1 January 1990 because he was making payments on the back taxes during that period. The court entered a child support order for the period from 1 January 1990 to the date of its order, 24 September 1990, carefully calculating the amount owed under the Child Support Guidelines both prior to and after their modification as of 1 July 1990.

In dividing the marital home under N.C.G.S. § 50-20, the court credited the defendant with his payment of the wife's share of the joint marital debt in the amount of $11,521.35 by awarding him sole ownership of the marital home, which had a net equity of $11,394.71.

Ultimately, the court awarded the wife $2,450.00 and the husband $13,844.71. The wife's award represents a one-half interest in a motorcycle and the appreciation in the marital home, neither of which was in dispute. The difference between the spouses' awards represents the net equity in the marital home.

Because this case comes before us by way of an appeal based solely on a dissenting opinion in the Court of Appeals, our review is "limited to a consideration of those questions which are (1) specifically set out in the dissenting opinion as the basis for [the] dissent, (2) stated in the notice of appeal, and (3) properly presented in the ... briefs...." N.C.R.App.P. 16(b); see also State v. Hooper, 318 N.C. 680, 351 S.E.2d 286 (1987); Clifford v. River Bend Plantation, Inc., 312 N.C. 460, 323 S.E.2d 23 (1984). Therefore, the sole issue before us is whether the trial court's facially unequal distribution of the marital property constitutes an abuse of discretion in light of its finding that the distribution in this case should be equal. This is the issue presented in the dissent, the notice of appeal and the briefs.

Equitable distribution is vested in the discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed absent a clear abuse of that discretion. White v. White, 312 N.C. 770, 324 S.E.2d 829 (1985). Only a finding that the judgment was unsupported by reason and could not have been a result of competent inquiry, Lawing v. Lawing, 81 N.C.App. 159, 344 S.E.2d 100 (1986); Nix v. Nix, 80 N.C.App. 110, 341 S.E.2d 116 (1986), or a finding that the trial judge failed to comply with the statute, N.C.G.S. § 50-20(c) (1987), will establish an abuse of discretion. White v. White, 312 N.C. 770, 324 S.E.2d 829. The record before us reflects that the trial judge's decision is supported by reason and complies with the statute.

The wife's argument against the equitability of the court's distribution of the assets is grounded in the court's refusal to consider her waiver of child support during the period from the parties' separation on 3 January 1987 until 1 January 1990 while the husband was making payments on the joint marital tax debt. The contention is that if the court had offset the child support which would have accumulated during that period (found by the court to be $24,570.00) 2 against the amount paid by the husband in back taxes ($23,042.70), the parties would have been essentially even, and the marital home should have been divided evenly between them. According to the wife, the court's failure to so consider her waiver, while awarding the husband the entire house, results in a double credit to the husband, who got both the benefit of not paying child support and the credit for paying the wife's share of the debt. Judge Cozort's dissent reflects these same arguments and concludes that "[this] kind of double credit is an abuse of discretion, and [the court] should not let it stand." Wieneck-Adams v. Adams, 104 N.C.App. at 624, 410 S.E.2d at 527.

As a preliminary matter, we affirm the trial court's view that the oral agreement between the parties had to be disregarded. McLean v. McLean, 88 N.C.App. 285, 363 S.E.2d 95 (1987), aff'd, 323 N.C. 543, 374 S.E.2d 376 (1988); McIntosh v. McIntosh, 74 N.C.App. 554, 328 S.E.2d 600 (1985); see N.C.G.S. § 50-20(d) (1987) (providing for written, duly executed and acknowledged agreements dividing marital property). However, the above cited authorities do not stand for the proposition that the court was barred from considering, apart from the agreement, the fact that the wife had paid for the children's support for three years without contribution from the husband. What precluded the court from such consideration is the plain meaning of sub...

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56 cases
  • Smith v. Smith
    • United States
    • North Carolina Court of Appeals
    • August 17, 1993
    ...the use of a credit as a means of taking into consideration postseparation payments made towards marital debts in Wiencek-Adams v. Adams, 331 N.C. 688, 417 S.E.2d 449 (1992). Determination of the appropriate treatment of marital debts and postseparation payments made towards those debts dep......
  • Chisum v. Campagna, 16 CVS 2419
    • United States
    • Superior Court of North Carolina
    • April 25, 2019
    ...omitted) (citing Zubaidi v. Earl L. Pickett Enters., Inc., 164 N.C.App. 107, 118, 595 S.E.2d 190, 196 (2004); Hawkins, 331 N.C. at 745, 417 S.E.2d at 449). See also, e.g., Mehovic v. Mehovic, 133 N.C.App. 131, 135-36, 514 S.E.2d 730, 733 (1999) (stating that "nominal damages must be recover......
  • Edwards v. Edwards
    • United States
    • North Carolina Court of Appeals
    • May 4, 1993
    ...Supreme Court has impliedly approved of crediting a spouse for post-separation payments made toward marital debt. Wiencek-Adams v. Adams, 331 N.C. 688, 417 S.E.2d 449 (1992). The appropriate treatment of post-separation payments made by one spouse toward marital debt will vary depending upo......
  • Crowell v. Crowell, COA17-164
    • United States
    • North Carolina Court of Appeals
    • January 2, 2018
    ...or a finding that the trial judge failed to comply with the statute, will establish an abuse of discretion. Wiencek-Adams v. Adams , 331 N.C. 688, 691, 417 S.E.2d 449, 451 (1992) (internal citations omitted). "A trial court's findings of fact in an equitable distribution case are conclusive......
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