Cosentino v. Cosentino

986 So. 2d 1065, 2008 WL 2582577
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJuly 1, 2008
Docket2006-CA-01613-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 986 So. 2d 1065 (Cosentino v. Cosentino) 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
Cosentino v. Cosentino, 986 So. 2d 1065, 2008 WL 2582577 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

986 So.2d 1065 (2008)

Douglas G. COSENTINO, Appellant,
v.
Phyllis L. COSENTINO, Appellee.

No. 2006-CA-01613-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

July 1, 2008.

*1066 Joseph R. Meadow, Gulfport, attorney for appellant.

Earl L. Denham, Wendy C. Hollingsworth, Ocean Springs, attorneys for appellee.

Before KING, C.J., IRVING and CHANDLER, JJ.

IRVING, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Douglas G. Cosentino appeals from an order of the Jackson County Chancery Court ordering him to pay alimony to his former wife, Phyllis L. Cosentino, in the amount of $7,000 per month. The issue before this Court is whether the chancellor on remand adequately considered Ferguson[1] factors six and seven and if so, whether it erred in awarding $7,000 in permanent periodic alimony to Phyllis.

¶ 2. Finding that the chancellor erred, we reverse and render.

FACTS

¶ 3. This is the second time that this case has been before this Court. Our initial opinion is reported at Cosentino v. Cosentino, 912 So.2d 1130 (Miss.Ct.App. 2005) (Cosentino I). Douglas and Phyllis were married for thirty-three years, and from that union, two children were born. The parties agreed to an irreconcilable differences divorce, and the chancellor divided the marital estate, which was valued at approximately $5.1 million. Phyllis was awarded $2,615,815, and Douglas was awarded $2,560,390. The chancellor also awarded Phyllis $7,000 per month in periodic alimony.

¶ 4. In Cosentino I, we found that the chancellor failed to address all of the relevant Ferguson factors, namely, factors six and seven. We reversed and remanded "for an appropriate analysis of [those] factors, and if justified, an analysis of the Armstrong[2] factors. . . ." Cosentino, 912 So.2d at 1133(¶ 12).

¶ 5. Both parties were offered but declined the opportunity to be heard on remand, *1067 so the chancellor issued a ruling based on the evidence that had been presented during the alimony hearing.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUE

¶ 6. "Whether to award alimony and the amount to be awarded are largely within the discretion of the chancellor." Creekmore v. Creekmore, 651 So.2d 513, 517 (Miss.1995) (citing Cherry v. Cherry, 593 So.2d 13, 19 (Miss.1991)). A chancellor's decision to award alimony will not be reversed on appeal "unless it is found to be against the overwhelming weight of the evidence or manifestly in error." Id. (citing McNally v. McNally, 516 So.2d 499, 501 (Miss.1987)). In Ferguson, the Mississippi Supreme Court enunciated factors that a chancellor should consider when dividing a marital estate:

1. Substantial contribution to the accumulation of the property. Factors to be considered in determining contribution are as follows:
a. Direct or indirect economic contribution to the acquisition of the property;
b. Contribution to the stability and harmony of the marital and family relationships as measured by quality, quantity of time spent on family duties and duration of the marriage; and
c. Contribution to the education, training or other accomplishment bearing on the earning power of the spouse accumulating the assets.
2. The degree to which each spouse has expended, withdrawn or otherwise disposed of marital assets and any prior distribution of such assets by agreement, decree or otherwise.
3. The market value and the emotional value of the assets subject to distribution.
4. The value of assets not ordinarily, absent equitable factors to the contrary, subject to such distribution, such as property brought to the marriage by the parties and property acquired by inheritance or inter vivos gift by or to an individual spouse;
5. Tax and other economic consequences, and contractual or legal consequences to third parties, of the proposed distribution;
6. The extent to which property division may, with equity to both parties, be utilized to eliminate periodic payments and other potential sources of future friction between the parties;
7. The needs of the parties for financial security with due regard to the combination of assets, income and earning capacity; and,
8. Any other factor which in equity should be considered.

Ferguson, 639 So.2d at 928.

¶ 7. We note at the outset that neither party found it necessary to provide this Court with a transcript of the hearing or a copy of the chancellor's opinion wherein she addressed the Ferguson factors. Although we are aware that "[i]t is the duty of the appellant to provide the record of the trial proceedings wherein the error claimed is brought before this Court[,]" Phyllis was not precluded from doing so. In re V.R., 725 So.2d 241, 245(¶ 17) (Miss.1998). In Cosentino I, we found that the chancellor failed to conduct a "full and appropriate" analysis of Ferguson factors six and seven. Cosentino, 912 So.2d at 1133(¶ 12). Employing the law of the case doctrine,[3] we take judicial notice *1068 that we, in Cosentino I, found nothing in the record to justify the chancellor's alimony award. Id. We proceed based on the record certified in this case because, as previously stated, no evidentiary hearing was conducted on remand. Again, we find that the chancellor failed to justify her alimony award. We will first explain why we find that the chancellor failed to follow our instructions as they relate to factor six and conclude by addressing the chancellor's treatment of factor seven.

¶ 8. After this case was remanded for the chancellor to make specific findings, she again failed to provide any justification for the alimony award. In her ruling after remand, the chancellor addressed factor six by simply stating that: "The marital property had been divided, by agreement, in equal portions to both the husband and the wife. The portion received by each spouse was in excess of Two Million Dollars."

¶ 9. In Johnson v. Johnson, 650 So.2d 1281, 1287 (Miss.1994), the Mississippi Supreme Court held that:

[T]he character of the parties' assets, i.e., marital or nonmarital, must be determined pursuant to Hemsley [v. Hemsley, 639 So.2d 909 (Miss.1994)]. The marital property is then equitably divided, employing the Ferguson factors as guidelines, in light of each parties' nonmarital property. Ferguson, 639 So.2d at 928. If there are sufficient marital assets which, when equitably divided and considered with each spouse's nonmarital assets, will adequately provide for both parties, no more need be done. If the situation is such that an equitable division of marital property, considered with each party's nonmarital assets, leaves a deficit for one party, then alimony based on the value of nonmarital assets should be considered.

(Emphasis added). The chancellor did not address whether Phyllis's property settlement of more than two million dollars eliminated her need for alimony. The chancellor did not articulate any reason why Phyllis needed more than the $2,615,815 that she was awarded. Inasmuch as alimony should only be awarded when the division of the marital estate leaves one party in a deficit, we find that the record simply does not support the chancellor's award.

¶ 10.

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Bluebook (online)
986 So. 2d 1065, 2008 WL 2582577, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cosentino-v-cosentino-missctapp-2008.