Houston v. Houston

121 So. 3d 283, 2013 WL 4799055, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 577
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 10, 2013
DocketNO. 2012-CA-00617-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 121 So. 3d 283 (Houston v. Houston) 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
Houston v. Houston, 121 So. 3d 283, 2013 WL 4799055, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 577 (Mich. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

ROBERTS, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Kellye Meek Houston divorced Brock Houston due to Brock’s uncondoned adultery. The Lafayette County Chancery Court awarded Brock custody of the couple’s two minor children, and ordered Kel-lye to pay Brock $600 per month in child support. Based on the chancellor’s equitable distribution of the marital estate and Kellye’s substantial separate estate, the chancellor denied Kellye’s request for alimony. Kellye appeals and claims the chancellor should have awarded her alimony. Kellye further claims the chancellor erred by ordering her to pay Brock $600 per month in child support. Finally, Kel-lye claims the chancellor should have ordered Brock to pay for the two minor children’s college expenses. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. Kellye and Brock were married in December 1987. Shortly after they married, Brock enlisted in the United States Air Force, where he was trained as a pilot. In 1989, Kellye and Brock had a daughter, Hillary. A few months after Hillary’s first birthday, Kellye was injured in a serious car accident. Among other injuries, she broke her jaw and one of her ankles. Despite Kellye’s injuries, Kellye and Brock added to their family. Their oldest son, Jake, was born in 1991. In 1998, they had another son, John Hale.

¶ 3. In 1995, FedEx hired Brock as a pilot. Brock’s earnings substantially increased. Brock flew out of Memphis, Tennessee, which is within driving distance of the marital home in Oxford, Mississippi. Since 1995, Brock has consistently worked for FedEx.

¶ 4. Kellye’s parents, Ed and Becky Meek, were frequently discussed through[286]*286out the divorce proceedings. The Meeks consistently provided a substantial amount of supplemental income to Kellye and Brock’s family. Conservatively, the Meeks gave Kellye between $2,000 and $4,000 per month. The Meeks provided financial assistance when Kellye and Brock bought the marital home. The Meeks also bought all of Kellye and Brock’s children’s clothes from the time the children were born. Later, the Meeks bought a vehicle for Jake and paid for Jake to attend boarding school in upstate New York. Kel-lye’s 2002 Toyota Land Cruiser was a gift from her parents. The Meeks also paid for numerous trips for the entire Houston family. Additionally, Kellye was able to rely on her parents for any supplemental financial assistance that she needed. The Meeks also established seven trusts that benefit either Kellye or Kellye and Brock’s children. Suffice it to say that it is undisputed that the Meeks’ financial assistance allowed Kellye and Brock’s family to live a lifestyle that they would have otherwise been unable to afford.

¶ 5. Kellye’s work history is limited. As of 2009, Kellye was within thirty-five hours of obtaining a bachelor’s degree. Sometime prior to 2000, Kellye’s father hired her to work as an administrative assistant at his publishing company in Oxford. Although the record does not specify when Kellye began working for her father, she stopped working for him sometime during 2000, after she and he argued.

¶ 6. Over time, Kellye began experiencing greater jaw pain due to the injuries that she sustained in the 1990 car accident. According to Kellye, the pain left her unable to adequately care for the children. Because of Kellye’s inability to care for the children and Brock’s schedule as a pilot, their children began to spend significant time with the Meeks. During 2001, John Hale began living with the Meeks.1 Between 2008 and 2005, Kellye had numerous surgeries to repair her jaw. Ultimately, both of Kellye’s temporomandibular joints were replaced.

¶ 7. As time passed, Kellye and Brock’s relationship deteriorated. In late 2007 or early 2008, Brock had an affair that was characterized as a “one-night stand.” Kel-lye confronted Brock after she heard a rumor that he had been unfaithful to her. Brock confessed, and Kellye asked him to leave the marital home. Brock complied. Although Kellye later asked Brock to return to the marital home, Brock refused to do so.

¶ 8. Kellye told her parents that she could not continue to live in the marital home. Consequently, Kellye moved out of the marital home. Kellye’s mother, Becky, bought a house for Kellye. At the time of the trial, Kellye was living in the house that her mother bought for her. Brock had moved into a loft apartment in a barn that was located on property that he and his siblings had inherited from his family. Meanwhile, the marital home remained empty. Hillary lived in her own apartment while she attended college at the University of Mississippi. Jake was in boarding school in upstate New York. And John Hale continued to live with the Meeks.

¶ 9. In September 2008, Brock filed a complaint for divorce based on habitual cruel and inhuman treatment or, alternatively, irreconcilable differences. Kellye filed a counter-complaint for divorce based on Brock’s uncondoned adultery. Kellye and Brock both requested physical custody of the children. In November 2009, they went to trial.2 Over the course of four [287]*287days, the chancellor heard testimony from Brock, Kellye, and Kellye’s mother, Becky. Additionally, Brock and Kellye each called expert witnesses to testify regarding the trusts that the Meeks established for Kel-lye and the couple’s three children.

¶ 10. Ultimately, the chancellor granted Kellye’s request for a divorce based on Brock’s uncondoned adultery, which Brock admitted during his testimony. By the time the chancellor entered her judgment, Hillary had reached the age of majority. The chancellor awarded Brock physical custody of Jake and John Hale. Additionally, the chancellor ordered Kellye to pay Brock $600 per month in child support. Based on Kellye’s separate estate and the division of the marital estate, the chancellor denied Kellye’s request for periodic or rehabilitative alimony. Kellye appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 11. An appellate court will not disturb a chancellor’s findings of fact when those findings are supported by substantial evidence unless the chancellor abused her discretion, was manifestly wrong, or the chancellor applied an erroneous legal standard. Rogillio v. Rogillio, 101 So.3d 150, 153 (¶ 11) (Miss.2012).

ANALYSIS

I. ALIMONY

¶ 12. Kellye claims the chancellor erred by declining to award alimony. “[T]he decision to award alimony is left to the discretion of the chancellor.” Id. at 154 (¶ 18). “In the case of a claimed inadequacy or outright denial of alimony, we will interfere only where the decision is seen as so oppressive, unjust or grossly inadequate as to evidence an abuse of discretion.” Id. at 153 (¶ 11).

¶ 13. “The purpose of alimony is not punitive, but instead, is designed to assist the spouse in meeting his or her reasonable needs while transitioning into a new life.” Faerber v. Faerber, 13 So.3d 853, 863 (¶ 36) (Miss.Ct.App.2009) (quoting Holley v. Holley, 892 So.2d 183, 185 (¶ 7) (Miss.2004)). “Accordingly, the chancellor should consider alimony only after the equitable division of the marital property.” Id.

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Bluebook (online)
121 So. 3d 283, 2013 WL 4799055, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 577, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/houston-v-houston-missctapp-2013.