Wright v. Wright
| Decision Date | 14 April 2023 |
| Docket Number | 1006-2022 |
| Parties | JACQUELYN WRIGHT v. KIRK WRIGHT |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
Circuit Court for Prince George's County Case No CAD21-09728.
Nazarian, Zic, Sharer, J. Frederick (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.
Appellant, Jacquelyn Wright ("Wife"), filed a complaint in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County seeking an absolute divorce and limited divorce from appellee, Kirk Wright ("Husband"), on grounds of cruelty of treatment and excessively vicious conduct, and for custody, child support, and other relief. Husband filed a countercomplaint seeking an absolute divorce on grounds of cruelty of treatment, a limited divorce on grounds of living separate and apart without cohabitation, and for alimony and other relief.
Following a two-day merits hearing conducted by remote videoconference on June 7, 2022 and June 8, 2022, the circuit court delivered an oral ruling denying Wife's petition for an absolute divorce and limited divorce on grounds of cruelty. The court granted Husband's countercomplaint for a limited divorce on grounds of living separate and apart without cohabitation. On August 8, 2022, the court signed a judgment of limited divorce that was docketed on August 27, 2022. The circuit court incorporated, but did not merge, the parties' custody agreement into the judgment of limited divorce.
On appeal, Wife presents two issues for our review, which we have rephrased:
For the reasons set forth below, we shall affirm.
The parties were married on May 24, 1997, in Capitol Heights Maryland. The parties have two children; the older child, "K," is emancipated, and the younger child, "M," was born in 2010. In 2002, the parties purchased a home in Oxon Hill, where they lived until their separation in 2021. The parties also purchased a timeshare in 2003. In 2012, Husband suffered a stroke that left him disabled.
Wife filed a complaint for absolute divorce and limited divorce on grounds of cruelty of treatment on August 17, 2021. In the complaint, Wife alleged that Husband "did create a reasonable apprehension that his behavior would endanger Wife's safety or health to a degree rendering it physically or mentally impracticable for her to properly discharge the martial duties." Specifically, Wife alleged that Husband "brandish[ed] a gun at Wife during a marital dispute[,]" and physically assaulted K by "grabbing [him] by the throat." Wife asserted that K "has become more aggressive, and [M] has become anxious and fearful and has resorted to hiding from [Husband]."
Husband filed an answer and countercomplaint for absolute divorce on grounds of cruelty, and limited divorce on grounds of separation without cohabitation. At trial, Husband withdrew his request for an absolute divorce.
Wife testified that she and Husband began fighting and arguing immediately after they were married in 1997. Wife testified regarding an incident in 2015 in which Husband had accused her of having an affair. Wife stated that she came out of the shower and observed Husband in their bedroom, "sitting on the side of the bed with a handgun on his lap." Without responding to Wife when she asked why he had the gun, Husband returned the gun to the safe in their bedroom. Wife testified that Husband later asked her if she had been afraid of the gun, and that he told her that "[she] wasn't worth the bullet."
In 2016, Wife obtained a protective order against Husband after he grabbed K by the throat. The protective order was effective for one year. During that year, Husband lived with his mother, and Wife brought the children to visit him. Husband and Wife did not spend any time together, though Husband told Wife that he wanted to reconcile and have a relationship with her. The parties renewed their wedding vows in 2017. Within a week of renewing their vows, the parties' marital problems resumed. Wife recalled that she had been disciplining one of their children and Husband criticized her for it. She asked him about the promises he had made to her and their vow renewal, and Husband told her that he had lied to her.
With respect to the children, Wife testified that Husband "regularly" slapped K when K "responded in a way that he didn't like[.]" Wife described an incident in 2020, involving an argument between Husband and K when K told Husband that he did not want a gift. Husband became agitated and Wife tried to calm him down, closing the door to their bedroom, but he told her to "get out of the way." Husband went to K's room and argued with him, upsetting K, and forcing him to run from the room and down the stairs.
According to Wife, Husband spent the most time with M. Husband and M regularly watched movies together and M enjoyed his time with Husband. When things became "volatile" between Husband and K, M's relationship with Husband changed. Wife testified that M cries when she has forced him to visit Husband. Wife and Husband have discussed M's feelings toward Husband and Husband indicated that he would be willing to get counseling.
In January of 2019, Wife opened a cheesecake business with her sister. Wife liquidated her Thrift Savings Plan ("TSP") and invested $141,000 in her business. Wife testified that Husband had agreed with her decision to use her TSP to finance the business, and she had agreed, in return, to forfeit her interest in his retirement account. In May of 2019, the parties reduced their agreement to writing. Wife also agreed to repay Husband $11,000 that she had withdrawn from the parties' joint mutual fund account. After Husband's stroke in 2012, Wife paid all of the family's bills.
In October of 2017, Husband signed a power of attorney, naming Wife as his attorney in fact. Wife testified that she had refinanced the Washington, D.C. property on October 27, 2017, with Husband's permission, and obtained a mortgage on the property in the amount of $118,000. In 2015, Wife withdrew $47,083 from her TSP for renovations to the Maryland home. Wife testified that she withdrew $79,000 from her TSP in 2016 to pay for remodeling of the Maryland home. In 2021, the mortgage forbearance for the Maryland property expired and $51,803 in outstanding mortgage payments was added to the mortgage for that property.
On re-cross examination, Wife clarified that in 2016, she spent $8,250 from her TSP on home renovations, not $79,000. She also stated that she owned 50 percent of her cheesecake business, and that her 2019 income tax return showing that she owned 98 percent of the cheesecake business, was error.
K was nineteen years old at the time of trial. K described his relationship with Husband as "[v]ery distant" because he has "no desire to talk to [Husband]." K characterized the relationship between Wife and Husband as "very chaotic and unpredictable[.]" According to K, Husband's temperament towards Wife was always "hostile," and he argued a lot with Wife. When K lived with both parents, he felt "very on edge most of the time ... because it was very unpredictable."
K described an incident in 2019 where Wife and Husband were arguing and he witnessed Husband poke Wife in the eye, though he was unsure "if it was an accident or not[.]" K also recalled an incident where Husband "pulled a gun" on Wife. K heard his parents arguing in their bedroom and recalled hearing Wife say, "[I]s that a gun?" K heard Husband respond that it was "not worth [it]."
K testified that approximately three years ago, Husband "grabbed [him] by the throat .. choking [him] and led [him] to [his] room." On another occasion in 2020, K recalled Husband became upset when K told him that he did not want anything for his birthday. According to K, Husband became "angry, irrational and upset[,]" and "just went off ... the rails." Husband continued arguing with K and threatened to punch him. Husband had never punched K, though "he would slap [him] a lot."
K testified regarding two incidents involving Husband and Wife's mother, Patricia Hunt. In the first incident, Husband had asked M what was wrong because M "had been very distant from [Husband] at that time" and "didn't want to talk to him." According to K, Ms. Hunt replied to Husband that he was "the problem." K stated that Husband "went off" and started throwing stuff, including pillows, in the living room. In response, K observed M cry and run upstairs to his room. As to the second incident, K observed Husband "yell at [Ms. Hunt] and tell her [to] get out, leave, stop, get out[,]" though he was unsure what precipitated the event. K testified that after his parents renewed their vows in 2017, things "mellowed out for a little bit[,]" but "it didn't last for long" before it "spiraled back into what it usually was."
Ms Hunt testified that she lived in the parties' home semi-permanently from 2003 until August of 2021. Ms. Hunt moved out of the home for the first time in 2006, following an altercation with Husband where he demanded that she leave the house. Prior to that time, Husband was "cordial" to her and he did not give her any problems. Ms. Hunt observed that Husband "talked down to [Wife] and criticized her a lot." He purchased food and "special items for himself" but did not have food for Wife when she came home, which Ms. Hunt characterized as "mean."
Ms Hunt testified that after Husband's stroke in 2012, he was "clearly frustrated...
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