Anthony McGovern v. Tera McGovern

CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedOctober 3, 2023
Docket2022-CA-00478-COA
StatusPublished

This text of Anthony McGovern v. Tera McGovern (Anthony McGovern v. Tera McGovern) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Anthony McGovern v. Tera McGovern, (Mich. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

NO. 2022-CA-00478-COA

ANTHONY McGOVERN APPELLANT

v.

TERA McGOVERN APPELLEE

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 04/26/2022 TRIAL JUDGE: HON. WAYNE SMITH COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: PIKE COUNTY CHANCERY COURT ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: S. CHRISTOPHER FARRIS ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: CASEN WAYNE CHOATE NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART - 10/03/2023 MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:

BEFORE CARLTON, P.J., GREENLEE AND SMITH, JJ.

GREENLEE, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Anthony and Tera McGovern consented to a divorce based on irreconcilable

differences in the Pike County Chancery Court with other issues to be decided by the court.

The chancery court granted the divorce and entered a binding judgment deciding the issues

of child custody and visitation, child support, payment of school tuition, payment of medical

expenses, equitable distribution of property, alimony, attorney’s fees, and contempt.

¶2. Anthony appealed, claiming the court erred by (1) awarding child support greater than

the statutory guidelines, (2) punitively fixing his visitation with his children, (3) determining

the 2008 Chevrolet truck was marital property, (4) granting Tera 50% of the equity in the

marital home, (5) failing to address his motion for contempt, and (6) awarding attorney’s fees without addressing the McKee1 factors, without properly authenticating the fees, and in

failing to consider Tera’s ability to pay her own fees. We affirm the chancery court’s

judgment as to the issues on visitation, a 2008 Chevrolet truck, and the marital home.

However, we reverse and remand as to the issues on child support, contempt, and attorney’s

fees.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶3. Anthony and Tera were previously married from March 2009 to June 2012, which

ended in a divorce. That first marriage produced no children. The two began seeing each

other after the divorce, and in June 2014, Anthony and Tera had their first son together, J.M.2

The parties remarried on October 15, 2015. The second marriage produced two more

children, A.M. and K.M., born in December 2015 and in January 2017, respectively.

¶4. A.M. was born with a rare genetic disorder that causes severe spinal issues. She must

wear body brace(s) for several hours each day. The disorder also affects her lung and

digestive functions. A.M. requires monthly specialized care with visits to facilities in Texas

and Tennessee. Her disease is not well understood and involves the possibility of future,

unexpected issues.

¶5. Anthony was the main source of income for the family. He was both the owner and

an employee of McGovern Unlimited, LLC, an oil consulting company. McGovern

Unlimited relied on other companies to refer clients to Anthony. Once connected with a

1 McKee v. McKee, 418 So. 2d 764, 767 (Miss. 1982). 2 We use initials in the place of the minor children’s names.

2 client, Anthony would travel and work in-person with the client, often for several weeks at

a time. Tera took care of the children and maintained the household. She also occasionally

worked with McGovern Unlimited and received roughly $30,000 per year in wages.

¶6. Anthony and Tera separated on March 9, 2021. They each filed competing divorce

petitions. They entered into a joint consent to a divorce based on irreconcilable differences,

with certain issues left to be determined by the court. Those initial issues were child custody

and visitation, child support, payment of the children’s school tuition, medical care, and

equitable distribution of property. Additional issues were later added, including alimony,

attorney’s fees, and contempt.

¶7. The chancery court entered its final judgment on February 25, 2022. On child

custody, the chancery court applied the Albright3 factors and granted Tera physical custody

of the children, while granting both Tera and Anthony joint legal custody. The court adjusted

the visitation hours from the schedule set by the temporary order and ordered that Anthony

should have visitation rights every weekend that he was home from work.

¶8. On the other issues, the chancery court found that Anthony was not a credible witness

concerning his financial situation. The court stated that it was “disturbed by Anthony

McGovern’s lack of candor.” The chancery court heard testimony from Barbara Givens,

Anthony’s accountant, who examined Anthony’s tax returns. The court found that Anthony

had a net income of $13,500 per month and had $10,300 in expenditures. The court ordered

Anthony to pay $2,500 in child support to Tera. Furthermore, the court ordered Anthony to

3 Albright v. Albright, 437 So. 2d 1003 (Miss. 1983).

3 pay for “any and all expenses related to the children’s attendance at Parklane Academy,

including tuition, book fees, after school care, activity and sport fees.” The chancery court

also ordered Anthony to pay for the children’s college education, limited to the cost of a

public university in Mississippi not covered by scholarships.

¶9. The chancery court noted that the children are covered by the Medicaid Program of

the State of Mississippi and ordered that they continue to be enrolled in Medicaid so long as

they are eligible. The court ordered that Anthony would be responsible to provide health

insurance in the event that the minor children no longer are covered by Medicaid. This

coverage would provide a deductible not to exceed $3,000 and would include medical,

dental, drug, and optical coverage. Furthermore, the chancery court ordered that both parties

would equally divide all out-of-pocket medical expenses.4

¶10. The chancery court addressed the equitable distribution of property by first analyzing

the Ferguson5 factors. The court found that Tera had helped accumulate assets and

contributed to the marriage domestically through her care of the children. The court found

that the marital home was a part of the marital estate through the family-use doctrine. The

family had lived in the home for the vast majority of the marriage, and the children were

raised in the home. The court found that the improvements in the home were made to

accommodate a growing family. Based on the appraisal of the home and the remaining

4 The court also ordered that Anthony would be responsible for 100% of the children’s medical expenses if the children were not covered by insurance in accordance with the court’s order. 5 Ferguson v. Ferguson, 639 So. 2d 921 (Miss 1994).

4 balance of the mortgage, the court found the equity in the home to be $120,500.

¶11. Next, the chancery court found that McGovern Unlimited was a marital asset.

Although Anthony is the sole owner of the company, it was created during the course of the

marriage, and Tera received employment payments and was active in the company. The

court found that at the date of separation, McGovern Unlimited’s bank account contained

$97,367.67 but that Tera had removed $25,000 from this account, and Anthony had removed

$20,000, leaving $52,367.67. Accordingly, the chancery court found that the balance was

to be split between the parties as $47,367.67 to account for the extra $5,000 ($25,000 -

$20,000) that Tera took out.

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Anthony McGovern v. Tera McGovern, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/anthony-mcgovern-v-tera-mcgovern-missctapp-2023.