Graves v. Graves

967 S.W.2d 632, 1998 Mo. App. LEXIS 561, 1998 WL 142005
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 31, 1998
DocketWD 54248
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 967 S.W.2d 632 (Graves v. Graves) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Graves v. Graves, 967 S.W.2d 632, 1998 Mo. App. LEXIS 561, 1998 WL 142005 (Mo. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

LAURA DENVIR STITH, Presiding Judge.

Gary Graves appeals the trial court’s order dissolving his marriage to Teri Lee Graves. First, he claims that the trial court erred in ordering him and Graves Machinery, L.L.C. *635 to execute a lease of property awarded to Mrs. Graves in the property distribution. He also asserts that the trial court erred in retaining jurisdiction over the issue of maintenance, in granting primary physical custody of the couple’s children to Mrs. Graves, and in calculating his child support obligation. Mr. Graves also claims that the trial court erred in ordering him to pay Mrs. Graves’ attorneys’ fees and expert witnesses’ fees. Finally, he argues that the trial court’s order granting Mrs. Graves maintenance and attorneys’ fees pending appeal was void.

We find that the trial court erred in its calculation of child support, and therefore remand for the trial court to correctly compute Mr. Graves’ child support obligation. We also remand with directions for the trial court to order Mr. Graves to pay the lesser amount for Mrs. Graves’ attorneys’ fees and expert witnesses’ fees stated in the judge’s findings of fact. We affirm the judgment on Mr. Graves’ remaining points on appeal.

I.FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Teri Lee Graves and Gary Michael Graves were married on November 2, 1979. They had three children together: Wesley Alan Graves, born on July 18, 1981, Emily Nicole Graves, born on December 18, 1984, and Laura Elizabeth Graves, born on January 5, 1988. The couple owned a limited liability company called Graves Machinery, L.L.C., which rented and sold heavy construction equipment. Graves Machinery, L.L.C. operated on a tract of land in North Kansas City, which it leased from the Graves.

After more than fifteen years of marriage, the couple separated in March 1996. Since the separation, the children have continued to live with Mrs. Graves. On August 28, 1996, Mrs. Graves filed a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in Clay County, Missouri. At that time, the children were fifteen, eleven, and eight years old, respectively.

On March 10,1997, the trial court entered a judgment dissolving the Graves’ marriage. Among other items of marital property distributed, the court awarded Mr. Graves all right, title, and interest in Graves Machinery, L.L.C. The court awarded Mrs. Graves the real estate in North Kansas City on which Graves Machinery, L.L.C. operated. The court also ordered the couple to sign a twelve month lease, under which Mr. Graves leased the Graves Machinery premises in North Kansas City from Mrs. Graves for a monthly rent of $9,500. The trial court awarded Mr. and Mrs. Graves joint legal custody of their three children, with Mrs. Graves having primary physical custody. The court also ordered Mr. Graves to pay Mrs. Graves $2,422 per month for child support. Finally, the trial court ordered Mr. Graves to pay a portion of Mrs. Graves’ attorneys’ fees and expert witnesses’ fees. This appeal followed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

An appellate court reviews a decree of dissolution of marriage the same as other court-tried cases and will affirm unless the trial court erroneously declared or applied the law, unless no substantial evidence supported the judgment, or unless the judgment was against the weight of the evidence. Bullard v. Bullard, 929 S.W.2d 942, 944 (Mo.App.1996); Groh v. Groh, 910 S.W.2d 747, 749 (Mo.App.1995). The court views the evidence and all favorable inferences in the light most favorable to the party prevailing. Groh, 910 S.W.2d at 749.

III. ORDER TO EXECUTE LEASE

As previously noted, the trial court awarded Mr. Graves the couple’s marital interest in Graves Machinery, L.L.C., making him the only member of the company, and awarded Mrs. Graves the real estate in North Kansas City which the company had been leasing and upon which the company operated. In his first point on appeal, Mr. Graves claims that the trial court erred in ordering him and Graves Machinery, L.L.C. to execute a twelve-month lease of the property awarded to Mrs. Graves in the property distribution for a monthly rent of $9,500. Although the trial court’s judgment only ordered Mr. and Mrs. Graves to sign the lease prepared by the court, the lease itself listed Graves Machinery, L.L.C. as a lessee and included a signature line for Graves Machinery, L.L.C. to be signed by Mr. Graves as President.

*636 Mr. Graves argues that the court did not have jurisdiction to divide property or exercise control over property that is legally owned by Graves Machinery, L.L.C. It is true that, in a dissolution decree, a court may not exercise control over property belonging to a corporation, even if one of the spouses is the sole shareholder of that corporation. Levesque v. Levesque, 773 S.W.2d 220, 222 (Mo.App.1989); Penn v. Penn, 655 S.W.2d 631, 632 (Mo.App.1983). The reason for this rule is that the shareholder does not have legal title to the property; title remains in the corporation. Levesque, 773 S.W.2d at 222; Penn, 655 S.W.2d at 632. Similarly, a member of a limited liability company does not have any interest in property owned by the company; rather, the property belongs to the company itself. § 347.061.1, RSMo 1994.

Where one spouse is the sole shareholder of a corporation, however, the court may order that spouse to cause the corporation to undertake certain acts, including the transfer of property. Mehra v. Mehra, 819 S.W.2d 351 (Mo. banc 1991). In Mehra, the couple owned a professional corporation known as Southside Medical Group, P.C. The corporation owned two insurance policies on the life of Mr. Mehra. Upon dissolution of the parties’ marriage, the trial court awarded Mr. Mehra all shares in the corporation. The court then ordered Mr. Mehra “as sole shareholder of [Southside Medical Group, P.C. to] cause [the] corporation to transfer” the insurance policies to Mrs. Mehra. Id. at 356. On appeal, the Missouri Supreme Court distinguished previous cases holding that the dissolution court could not divide property belonging to a corporation, stating:

These cases may be distinguished, however, on the basis that here the trial court did not allocate the corporate assets themselves as marital property, but directed husband, as sole shareholder under the court’s decree, to cause the corporation to transfer the two insurance policies on his life to Rachna Mehra. Husband makes no showing this cannot be accomplished, and we conclude the trial court did not misapply the law in this regard.

Id. (footnote and citation omitted).

Similarly, here, the trial court did not attempt to distribute any property belonging to Graves Machinery, L.L.C., did not order any property belonging to the limited liability company to be turned over to Mrs. Graves, and did not directly order Graves Machinery, L.L.C. to sign the lease.

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Bluebook (online)
967 S.W.2d 632, 1998 Mo. App. LEXIS 561, 1998 WL 142005, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/graves-v-graves-moctapp-1998.