Greeson v. Greeson

358 S.E.2d 448, 178 W. Va. 189, 1987 W. Va. LEXIS 565
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
DecidedJune 11, 1987
DocketNo. 17016
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 358 S.E.2d 448 (Greeson v. Greeson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering West Virginia Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Greeson v. Greeson, 358 S.E.2d 448, 178 W. Va. 189, 1987 W. Va. LEXIS 565 (W. Va. 1987).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

This is an appeal by Nancy Hager Gree-son (Weaver) from a divorce decree entered by the Circuit Court of Kanawha County on March 26, 1984. On appeal the appellant claims that the trial court erred in failing to order a distribution of the couple’s property in accordance with the requirements of the equitable distribution statute and in failing to award her sufficient alimony. After examining the record, we conclude that the appellant’s assertions are without merit, and we affirm the decision of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County-

The appellant, Nancy Hager Greeson, and the appellee, Robert Standfier Greeson, were married on March 10, 1982. At the time of the marriage Robert Standfier Greeson owned a house located in Charleston, West Virginia, worth around $250,000. Approximately $140,000 of that represented equity. He also had substantial savings and owned stock in the Union Carbide Corporation and a company called Conquest Exploration. His total income exceeded $100,000 a year. The appellant, on the other hand, worked for the Business Round Table in New Jersey and earned $18,000 a year. To enter into the marriage she gave up her job, gave away certain of her personal possessions, and moved from New Jersey to Charleston, West Virginia.

Shortly after the marriage, difference arose between the appellant and her husband, and they last cohabitated in May, 1983. On July 15, 1983, slightly over a year after the marriage, the appellant sued for divorce. In her complaint she prayed that she be awarded permanent alimony and that an equitable distribution be made of the parties’ property. Hearings were held on the complaint before a special commissioner on January 13, 1984, and before a judge of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County on September 12, 1984.

During the hearings substantial evidence was developed concerning the earning capacities, the earnings, and assets of the parties. The evidence indicated that the appellant, at that time, was 43 years old and in good health. She had a high school education and one year of business school training. A vocational counselor indicated that she had above-average clerical skills and stated that, if she chose to remain in the Charleston area, she could enter the job market at $9,500 per year. The appellant owned no significant property other than certain furniture which was valued at less than $2,000.

The appellant’s husband was likewise in good health. He was making an annual salary of $104,000, plus bonuses which provided an additional $14,000. He was a director of Conquest Exploration and collected $11,000 annually in director’s fees. He owned between 120 and 130 shares of the Union Carbide Corporation, $13,000 worth of securities in Conquest Exploration, had $132,000 in the Union Carbide corporate savings plan, and $21,000 in various bank accounts. He owned the marital residence, which was valued at $250,000, a $12,000 [191]*191Fiat sports car, and a $21,000 Cadillac El Dorado. He owed $106,000 on the house and between $15,000 and $17,000 on an unsecured note used to purchase the Cadillac.

Additional evidence introduced during the hearings showed that the appellant had performed the usual homemaker services during the marriage.

At the conclusion of the initial hearings the Commissioner recommended that the appellant be awarded alimony of $1,000 per month for a period of two years. The Commissioner also recommended that for the fourteen month period during which she performed homemaker services the appellant should be awarded a lump sum of $3,000.

Following the filing of the Commissioner’s report and the various exceptions of the parties to it, the Circuit Court of Kana-wha County conducted an additional hearing on the question of attorney fees and costs, and on March 26, 1985, entered the order from which the appellant now appeals. Among other things, the court adopted the Commissioner’s recommendation that the appellant be paid alimony of $1,000 per month for two years. Additionally, the judge ordered that the appellee pay $100 per month alimony after the expiration of the initial two-year period. The court increased the award for homemaker services from $3,000 to $8,000. The court also granted the appellant attorney fees of $3,750 and other costs in the amount of $1,500.

An order correcting a scrivner’s error was entered by the court on November 26, 1985. That order specified that the alimony payments due the appellant would expire upon the remarriage of the appellant or the death of either party, but provided further that the alimony due during the initial two-year period constituted a charge against the appellee’s estate until paid or until the death or remarriage of the appellant.

On appeal the appellant argues that the trial court erred in failing to award her an equitable interest in the marital home and in failing to evaluate her homemaker services in conformity with the standard set forth in LaRue v. LaRue, 172 W.Va. 158, 304 S.E.2d 312 (1983).

The appellant’s claim to an equitable interest in the marital home is predicated upon the holding of this Court in Patterson v. Patterson, 167 W.Va. 1, 277 S.E.2d 709 (1981). In the Patterson case the Court recognized that under certain circumstances a trial court may declare a constructive trust in the property titled solely in the name of one party to a divorce proceeding in favor of the other spouse. The specific circumstances which must be shown to establish a constructive trust are detailed in syllabus point 4:

Before a trial court may properly impress a constructive trust on property titled in the name of one spouse for the benefit of the other, the spouse seeking the trust must by a preponderance of the evidence: (1) overcome the presumption that there was a gift between the parties, and (2) show that he or she is otherwise entitled to the declaration of a constructive trust. Entitlement to a constructive trust requires: (a) a showing that the party transferred to his or her spouse money, property, or services which were actually used to procure property titled in the other spouse’s name only; (b) that the transfer was induced by (i) fraud, (ii) duress, (iii) undue influence, (iv) mistake, (v) breach of implicit fiduciary duty, or (vi) that in light of the dissolution of the marriage the other spouse would be unjustly enriched by the transfer.

A critical showing which must be made under this rule to establish a constructive trust is that the spouse who seeks the trust must demonstrate that he or she transferred money, property, or services to the other spouse which were actually used by the other spouse to procure property which was titled in the other spouse’s name only.

In the case presently under consideration, the uncontradicted evidence shows that the appellant’s husband had accumulated almost all the equity in the marital residence before the parties’ marriage. During the marriage he alone worked to provide an income for the parties. Al[192]*192though the appellant provided homemaker services, there is no evidence that she provided any money or property used to procure the property. These facts militate against the finding of a constructive trust.

In LaRue v. LaRue, 172 W.Va. 158, 304 S.E.2d 312

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Bluebook (online)
358 S.E.2d 448, 178 W. Va. 189, 1987 W. Va. LEXIS 565, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/greeson-v-greeson-wva-1987.