Cupp v. Cupp

125 So. 3d 111, 2013 WL 5526711, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 669
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedOctober 8, 2013
DocketNo. 2012-CA-00505-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 125 So. 3d 111 (Cupp v. Cupp) 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
Cupp v. Cupp, 125 So. 3d 111, 2013 WL 5526711, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 669 (Mich. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

ISHEE, J,

for the Court:

¶ 1. In August 2010, Steven Anthony Cupp (Steve) and Jennifer Gray Cupp (Jenny) were married in DeSoto County, Mississippi. They resided there until their separation in Tennessee in June 2011. Jenny initially filed for divorce based on habitual cruel and inhuman treatment, but the parties eventually agreed to an irreconcilable-differences divorce. They submitted the issues of property classification and division of the marital estate, among other issues, to the DeSoto County Chancery Court. After the chancery court entered its final judgment, Steve filed an appeal. Finding no error, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

¶2. Immediately following the parties’ wedding in August 2010, Steve and Jenny, along with Jenny’s son from a prior relationship, lived in a home Steve had purchased prior to the marriage in Lake Cormorant, Mississippi. Steve purchased the home for a total of $123,000, making a $7,000 down payment and paying for the remainder through a mortgage. Shortly after the wedding, the couple decided to move to Sevierville, Tennessee. Steve left for Sevierville ahead of Jenny to make business and home plans for the couple.

¶ 3. Steve, a former auto-collision-repair worker, developed medical conditions just prior to the marriage, which caused his doctor to recommend that he leave the auto industry. He started an unsuccessful vehicle-graphics business that ended shortly after the couple wed. Thereafter, Steve moved to Sevierville with plans to open a souvenir shop.

¶ 4. Steve had inherited approximately $170,000 from his mother’s estate. He used the funds to relocate and rent a home and office space. He also used the money to buy items for the shop, including a $9,985 laser printer, among other things. Steve states that he spent the majority of his inheritance on the business. The business eventually failed, and by 2012, the balance in Steve’s separate account containing his inheritance from his mother was approximately $2,600.

¶ 5. Jenny, who has an associate’s degree and has worked as a legal secretary and paralegal, was working as a teacher’s assistant in DeSoto County at the time of [113]*113the marriage. In 2011, Jenny earned approximately $1,450 a month. Due to Steve’s numerous changes in employment, Jenny had him listed on her employer’s health insurance during the course of the marriage.

¶ 6. A few weeks after the couple married, Steve purchased a 2005 Honda Odyssey van for Jenny using funds from his separate account. The van is valued at approximately $13,000. Steve owns a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado truck valued at $3,000 that he acquired before he married Jenny. Jenny entered the marriage with a 2001 Toyota Camry, which she sold in May 2011 for $4,500. The funds from the sale of the 2001 Toyota Camry were deposited into the couple’s joint account.

¶ 7. In June 2011, the couple separated. Steve alleges that just prior to the separation, Jenny transferred approximately $6,450 from Steve’s separate account into their joint account. Although Jenny did not have permission to access his separate account, Steve asserts that she contacted his ex-wife and others to determine his user name, password, and the answer to the account’s security question. Around May 2011, Jenny withdrew the $4,500 from the sale of her vehicle from their joint account and closed the account. Aside from $1,500 Jenny admitted to having contributed to rent for the home and business in Sevierville, the record indicates she used the funds in the joint account for her personal expenses only during the nine-month marriage.

¶ 8. After Jenny filed for divorce on the ground of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment, the couple finally agreed to an irreconcilable-differences divorce. They submitted property classification and division of their marital estate to the chancery court. In September 2011, prior to the trial, the chancellor ordered that Jenny reinstate and maintain Steve on her employer’s insurance. However, because of Steve’s prior medical conditions, Jenny claims it was financially impossible for her to reinstate retroactive coverage on her salary. Additionally, Steve claims Jenny’s offer to extend him COBRA coverage was hollow since the insurance would be useless to him since he lives out of state.

¶ 9. After a January 2012 trial on the merits, the chancellor determined that Steve was the primary financial contributor but that Jenny made significant domestic contributions to the marriage. The chancellor ruled that the 2005 Honda Odyssey van valued at $13,000, a 2010 income-tax refund of $7,472.55, the $9,985 laser printer, and the equity in the Lake Cormorant home minus the money Steve used as a down payment on the home were all part of the marital estate. The total of the marital estate was valued at $43,467.55.

¶ 10. In dividing the assets, the chancery court ordered that Jenny receive exclusive use and possession of the $13,000 2005 Honda Odyssey van. The chancery court also determined that in order to avoid lump-sum alimony, Jenny was entitled to the couple’s 2010 income-tax refund of $7,472.55. Jenny’s award was approximately $20,472.55.

¶ 11. Steve appeals the chancery court’s determination. He asserts that the Lake Cormorant home should not have been deemed part of the marital estate due to the brevity of the couple’s marriage and Jenny’s lack of financial contribution to the home. Steve argues that because the couple did not bear children to raise in the home, Jenny’s domestic contribution to the home is so minimal as to remove the home from the marital estate.

¶ 12. He also argues that the chancery court failed to account for approximately $11,000 that he claims Jenny reallocated [114]*114from his separate account and their joint account prior to the couple’s separation. Steve asserts that Jenny deposited about $4,500 into their joint account after she sold her 2001 Toyota Camry and then removed the funds from the account without explanation. He also claims that Jenny gained unauthorized access to his separate account and stole several thousand dollars from him. He asserts that the chancellor should have accounted for this money when equitably dividing the estate.

¶ 13. On appeal, Steve also argues that Jenny was not entitled to the 2010 tax refund because the record reflects her contribution to the reported $57,397 in income in 2010 was only $10,609. Furthermore, Steve notes that most of the refund was attributable to $17,654 in Steve’s reported business losses. Additionally, Steve claims the chancellor’s award was essentially an award of lump-sum alimony, which exceeded the scope of the chancellor’s authority in adjudicating the couple’s irreconcilable-differences divorce.

¶ 14. Steve next makes a general argument that the chancellor erred in his Ferguson1 analysis with regard to the aforementioned issues. Finally, Steve argues the chancellor erred by failing to address Steve’s lack of health insurance. Jenny never provided Steve the health insurance ordered by the chancery court in its September 2011 order. However, again, Jenny claims an impossibility of performance due to Steve’s preexisting conditions.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 15. When reviewing domestic-relations matters, we are confined to a limited standard of review. See, e.g., Ferguson v. Ferguson, 639 So.2d 921, 929 (Miss.1994).

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Bluebook (online)
125 So. 3d 111, 2013 WL 5526711, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 669, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cupp-v-cupp-missctapp-2013.