Lewis v. Lewis

54 So. 3d 233, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 875, 2009 WL 4591384
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 8, 2009
DocketNo. 2008-CA-01362-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 54 So. 3d 233 (Lewis v. Lewis) 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
Lewis v. Lewis, 54 So. 3d 233, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 875, 2009 WL 4591384 (Mich. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

IRVING, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Tonia and Drake Lewis were divorced by the Harrison County Chancery Court after fifteen years of marriage. In its judgment, the chancery court made an equitable distribution of the marital estate. Feeling aggrieved, Drake appeals and asserts that the chancery court erred in classifying certain property as marital and in its equitable distribution as to multiple pieces of property.

¶ 2. Finding error, we affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

FACTS

¶ 3. Tonia and Drake were married on March 2, 1991, in Missouri. Three children were born during the course of the marriage. In June 2006, Tonia and Drake separated due to Drake’s affair with a family friend. During the course of their marriage, Tonia and Drake formed and operated together a company called Legacy Holdings (Legacy). Multiple pieces of property were bought, improved, and either sold or rented by the parties on behalf of Legacy.

[235]*235¶ 4. Tonia filed a complaint for divorce on August 30, 2006. No responsive pleading was filed by Drake. Trial was held in July 2007. At the conclusion of the trial, the parties were given the opportunity to submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Tonia submitted proposed findings, but Drake never submitted anything.

¶ 5. On January 11, 2008, the chancery court issued its judgment, wherein the court granted Tonia a divorce on the ground of adultery, and attempted to make an equitable distribution of the marital estate. At the outset, the chancery court noted that it had “the opportunity to observe the demeanor of the witnesses, and to judge their credibility!;, and] that [Drake] is not a credible witness. He made efforts to hide assets and income .... ”

¶ 6. Additional facts will be related, as necessary, during our analysis and discussion of the issues.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

¶7. Our supreme court has discussed the appellate standard of review in divorce cases as follows:

“Our scope of review in domestic relations matters is limited by our familiar substantial evidence/manifest error rule.” Clark v. Clark, 754 So.2d 450, 458 [ (¶ 48) ] (Miss.1999) (citation omitted). “The equitable distribution of marital assets is committed to the discretion of the chancellor, whose findings will not be disturbed ... unless the chancellor was manifestly wrong, clearly erroneous or an erroneous legal standard was applied.” Arthur v. Arthur, 691 So.2d 997, 1003 (Miss.1997) (citation omitted).

Jones v. Jones, 995 So.2d 706, 712 (¶ 19) (Miss.2008). Drake contends that the chancery court erred in its distribution of numerous pieces of property; for clarity’s sake, we address each separately below. Despite the stringent standard of review applicable to this case, we find that the chancellor was manifestly wrong in his treatment of the marital assets.

1. Legacy Holdings

¶ 8. Drake contends that the chancery court “made its determination about Legacy Holdings based on Exhibits 1, 4, and 7, all of which were offered by ... Tonia.... Drake asserts that these three exhibits are contradictory, inaccurate, and unreliable.... ” Drake essentially contends that Legacy is worth almost nothing and that it holds no property other than some equipment and vehicles.

¶ 9. In its judgment, the chancery court stated the following about Legacy:

In 2001, the parties formed Legacy Builders, Inc. Its office was in the marital home from 2001 to 2003, after which time it acquired a separate office. Tonia and Drake each owned 50%. Legacy built speculation homes and custom built homes for others. Beginning in 2001, the parties derived most of their regular income from Legacy.
Tonia and Drake continued to invest in other real estate holdings, many times at the suggestion of Drake’s father. They purchased a lot in Livingston, Louisiana (Suma Hills) to build a speculation home. They purchased real estate with his father in Missouri (Richland Road)[,] and during the divorce litigation this land was sold with each receiving $132,000.00 net profit. They purchased other real estate with his father in Missouri (Grasslands)[,] and during the divorce litigation Drake and Tonia sold their interest for $93,000.00. They purchased more lots in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, (Pinehurst)[,] on which Legacy [236]*236was building spec homes at the time of the trial.
# * * * * *
After being formed in 2001, Legacy’s business grew quickly. An analysis of its tax returns (Exhibit 8) and records shows a pattern of gross sales as follows:
2001-$612,699.00;
2002-$811,947.00;
2003-$2,491,294.00;
2004-$2,068,778.00; and
2005-$2,397,266.00.
Its “total assets” as shown on its tax returns’ balance sheets also is revealing:
2001-$1,950.00;
2002-$l,622,861.00;
2003-$l,621,603.00;
2004-$l,556,589.00; and
2005-$2,219,539.99.
The parties’ July 2006 Personal Financial Statement (Exhibit 4) showed as follows:
Total Other Assets-$1,756,645.88 (includes Legacy Holdings, Inc[.,] at $1,148,270.48);
Total Liabilities-$108,381.23; and
a net worth of $1,648,264.65.
At trial, Drake’s testimony painted a totally different financial picture of the status of Legacy’s sales and assets and the value of the marital estate. His testimony was substantially contradicted by the documentary evidence. Much of Drake’s posturing for a “poor” financial condition appears to be motivated by his own desire to abandon his marriage to Tonia....
* * * * * *
At the temporary hearing in September 2006, Drake presented his financial declaration (Exhibit 2) showing his sole income from Legacy of $4,300.00 per month (gross). Based upon these representations, the [c]ourt ordered Drake to pay Tonia $2,776.00 per month in support, her house note of $1,346.00, her car note of $544.00 per month, and her car insurance of $217.00 per month.
Following the temporary hearing, Drake began to surreptitiously draw an additional $4,300.00 per month from Legacy as a repayment by Legacy to Drake for loans they both had made to the company. The records show that Tonia and Drake had loan receivable balances from Legacy as follows:
Exhibit 2a-$156,555.10 as of July 2007;
Exhibit 7-Legacy Balance Sheet shows $147,855.00.
Drake failed to show this asset on his 2006 financial statement (Exhibit 2). Between September 2006 and April 2007 Drake drew $28,848.00 from Legacy as a loan receivable. (Exhibit 9). This money represented a marital asset belonging to both parties, to which he had no unilateral right.

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Timothy M. Benton v. Elizabeth A. Benton
239 So. 3d 545 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2018)
Drake L. Lewis v. Tonia D. Lewis Pagel
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Lewis v. Lewis
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Bluebook (online)
54 So. 3d 233, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 875, 2009 WL 4591384, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-v-lewis-missctapp-2009.