DEVINE II v. Devine

812 So. 2d 1278, 2001 WL 1105094
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedSeptember 21, 2001
Docket2000398
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 812 So. 2d 1278 (DEVINE II v. Devine) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
DEVINE II v. Devine, 812 So. 2d 1278, 2001 WL 1105094 (Ala. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

812 So.2d 1278 (2001)

Jerry Wayne DEVINE II
v.
Traci Leigh DEVINE.

2000398.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

September 21, 2001.

*1279 Floyd C. Enfinger, Jr., Montrose, for appellant.

Bayless E. Biles of Wilkins, Bankester, Biles & Wynne, Bay Minette, for appellee.

THOMPSON, Judge.

Traci Leigh Devine (the "wife") and Jerry Wayne Devine II (the "husband") were married on September 15, 1990. One child, a daughter, was born of the parties' marriage. On May 2, 2000, the wife sued for a divorce, seeking, among other things, custody of the parties' daughter and an equitable division of the marital property. On May 18, 2000, the trial court entered a pendente lite order requiring the husband to pay $128.50 per week in child support. The husband answered, seeking custody of the parties' child.

The trial court conducted a hearing and received ore tenus evidence. On September 6, 2000, the court entered a judgment that, among other things, divorced the parties, awarded primary physical custody of the child to the wife, ordered the husband to pay child support, and fashioned a property division. On September 20, 2000, the husband filed a motion pursuant to Rule 59(e), Ala. R. Civ. P. In his September 20, 2000, postjudgment motion, the husband challenged the trial court's child-support award; he argued that the court had erred in imputing income to him for the purpose of calculating his child-support obligation; that the child-support award was excessive and was not calculated in compliance with the Rule 32, Ala. R. Jud. Admin., Child Support Guidelines; and that the court had made no determination that it should deviate from the Child Support Guidelines *1280 in establishing his child-support obligation. The husband also challenged the equity of the trial court's property division.

On October 10, 2000, the husband filed an amendment to his postjudgment motion, raising an issue related to the parties' filing for bankruptcy. The basis for the October 10, 2000, motion, is the husband's argument that the trial court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to enter a property division on the parties' divorce action. Subject-matter jurisdiction may not be waived by the parties, and it is an issue that may be raised, either by the parties or by the courts, at any time. State Dep't of Rev. v. Medical Care Equip., Inc., 737 So.2d 471 (Ala.Civ.App.1999); Singleton v. Graham, 716 So.2d 224 (Ala. Civ.App.1998). The trial court denied the husband's postjudgment motions, and the husband appealed.

The husband first argues that the trial court was without jurisdiction to enter a property division in this action, because the parties had filed for bankruptcy protection and, therefore, proceedings on the issue of a property division were automatically stayed. See 11 U.S.C. § 362(a)(1). Initially, we note that the wife argues that the husband waived the issue of the automatic stay by failing to plead their petition for bankruptcy protection as an affirmative defense. Rule 8(c), Ala. R. Civ. P., sets forth affirmative defenses that are waived if they are not raised in a party's first responsive pleading. Tounzen v. Southern United Fire Ins. Co., 701 So.2d 1148 (Ala.Civ.App.1997) (citing Harrell v. Pet, Inc., Bakery Div., 664 So.2d 204 (Ala.Civ.App.1994)). A "discharge in bankruptcy" is an affirmative defense. See Rule 8(c); Blase v. Blase, 419 So.2d 599 (Ala.Civ.App.1982). However, the evidence in the record indicates that the parties have filed for bankruptcy protection, but no evidence in the record indicates that either party has been discharged in bankruptcy. Therefore, we cannot agree that the husband waived this issue. The bankruptcy statute provides:

"Automatic Stay
"(a) Except as provided in subjection (b) of this section, a petition filed under section 301, 302, or 303 of this title, or an application filed under section 5(a)(3) of the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970, operates as a stay, applicable to all entities, of—
"(1) the commencement or continuation, including the issuance or employment of process, of a judicial, administrative, or other action or proceeding against the debtor that was or could have been commenced before the commencement of the case under this title, or to recover a claim against the debtor that arose before the commencement of the case under this title;
"(b) The filing of a petition under section 301, 302, or 303 of this title, or of an application under section 5(a)(3) of the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1970, does not operate as a stay—
". . . .
"(2) under subsection (a) of this section—
"(A) of the commencement or continuation of an action or proceeding for—
"(i) the establishment of paternity; or
"(ii) the establishment or modification of an order for alimony, maintenance, or support;
". . . ."

11 U.S.C. § 362 (emphasis added).

Thus, the filing of a petition for bankruptcy protection stays proceedings in a divorce action as it pertains to the division *1281 of property within the debtor's estate, but it does not operate as a stay as to the dissolution of the marriage itself or the award of child support or alimony. See 11 U.S.C. § 362; Hunter v. Hunter, 706 So.2d 753 (Ala.Civ.App.1997).

"`[T]he filing of a bankruptcy petition stays the determination in a divorce case of the interest of the debtor in property of the estate, any exercise of control over such property, and any monetary claims against a debtor other than for alimony, maintenance, and support. Other aspects of a divorce case, such as the dissolution of the marriage ... are not stayed.'"

Hunter v. Hunter, 706 So.2d at 754 (citations omitted) (some emphasis added).

In Hunter v. Hunter, supra, the trial court entered a divorce judgment that, among other things, divided the parties' marital property. The husband filed for bankruptcy protection while the wife's appeal to this court was pending. This court concluded that, because of the automatic stay from the husband's bankruptcy case, it did not have jurisdiction to consider that part of the wife's appeal related to the trial court's property division. Therefore, this court dismissed that part of the wife's appeal that related to the property division. Hunter v. Hunter, 706 So.2d at 754.

We note that a trial court has jurisdiction to fashion a property division in a divorce action where the bankruptcy court enters an order lifting the automatic stay as to the divorce action. See Lumpkin v. Lumpkin, 173 Ga.App. 755, 328 S.E.2d 389 (1985); Howard v. Howard, 670 S.W.2d 737 (Tex.App.1984); State ex rel. Miley v. Parrott, 77 Oh. St.3d 64, 671 N.E.2d 24 (1996); Rauer v. McFee, 802 P.2d 155 (Wyo.1990).

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Bluebook (online)
812 So. 2d 1278, 2001 WL 1105094, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/devine-ii-v-devine-alacivapp-2001.