Manis v. Manis

49 S.W.3d 295, 2001 Tenn. App. LEXIS 48, 2001 WL 60616
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJanuary 25, 2001
DocketE1999-01927-COA-R3-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by116 cases

This text of 49 S.W.3d 295 (Manis v. Manis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Manis v. Manis, 49 S.W.3d 295, 2001 Tenn. App. LEXIS 48, 2001 WL 60616 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

OPINION

SWINEY, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court,

in which FRANKS, and SUSANO, JJ., joined.

Wife sought a divorce after 41 years of marriage on grounds of inappropriate marital conduct. With Husband acting pro se, the parties filed a Marital Dissolution Agreement. After retaining counsel, Husband withdrew the agreement and filed a counterclaim for divorce, also alleging inappropriate marital conduct. The Trial Court appointed a Special Master, who conducted two hearings and filed a lengthy and comprehensive Special Master’s Report. Both parties filed Objections to the Report, and the Special Master held a third hearing addressing the issues raised in the parties’ objections. Husband filed Objections to the Special Master’s Amended Report. Wife had no objections to the Amended Report. The Trial Court held a fourth hearing, at which arguments of counsel and Husband’s offer of additional proof were made. The Trial Court’s Final Judgment adopted the Report of the Special Master, as amended, and affirmed the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the Special Master with minor exceptions. Husband raises ten issues, primarily involving the Special Master’s valuation and distribution of marital assets and the amount of alimony he was ordered to pay. Wife contests the amounts awarded to her for periodic alimony and for her interest in the marital estate, and also claims that the Trial Court erred in not placing more restrictions on Husband’s future business transactions so as to more fully protect her interest in her marital share. We affirm the judgment of the Trial Court.

Background

Ms. Billie Mae Manis (Appellee, hereinafter ‘Wife”) and Mr. Donald Ralph Manis (Appellant, hereinafter “Husband”) had been married for 41 years when Wife filed for divorce on the grounds of inappropriate marital conduct. Husband and Wife both are 68 years old. Wife has worked outside the home for less than two years during *298 her married life, at stores such as K Mart, and in Mr. Manis’ businesses. Husband has owned and managed various businesses in Sevier and surrounding counties, including pawn shops and horseback riding enterprises, throughout the marriage. He testified that he retired from salaried work in those businesses during the course of this litigation. The record shows, however, that he still controls these businesses and receives income from them.

When Wife filed her Complaint for divorce, Husband was not represented by counsel. Four days after the Complaint was filed, the parties filed a Marital Dissolution Agreement (“MDA”) with Husband still unrepresented. The MDA provided that Wife would be granted a divorce based on Husband’s inappropriate marital conduct. The property settlement portion of the MDA provided that Wife would receive the marital home in Powell, Tennessee, and would assume the mortgage thereon, as well as another house in Powell, and a one-half interest in a residence in Sevier County, which each of the parties would have the use of for six months each year. Four other parcels of real estate were to be held jointly by the parties, and if any of these were sold, the proceeds were to be divided equally. Husband was to pay $8,000 monthly in alimony “until [Wife] dies or remarries and for as long as the Husband makes a gross income of $200,000 per year.”

One year later the Trial Court permitted Wife’s counsel to withdraw because Wife refused to prosecute and apparently had abandoned the case. The Trial Court ordered Wife to obtain new counsel within thirty days. Five days later Wife, represented by new counsel, filed a second Complaint for divorce in Knox County, which was later dismissed. Husband retained counsel and filed a Counterclaim for divorce in which he charged that Wife was guilty of inappropriate marital conduct. Husband asked the Court to enforce the MDA or, in the alternative, upon a hearing, to make a fair and equitable division of the Parties’ real and personal property. Husband, however, soon moved to withdraw the MDA. Wife did not oppose the withdrawal of the MDA. The Trial Court granted Husband’s motion to withdraw the MDA and appointed a Special Master to review the personal and business financial situations of the parties, conduct an accounting, and submit findings to the Court. The Trial Court also ordered Husband to pay Wife $5,500 per month as alimony pendente lite.

Both parties were deposed. The Special Master conducted hearings on May 21st and June 26th, 1998. Both parties and six other witnesses were heard and fifteen exhibits concerning the parties’ financial situation were introduced. The witnesses included real estate appraisers, pawn brokers, and James Shaver, CPA, who provides financial reporting services including tax returns for Husband’s businesses. The exhibits included property appraisals, 'bank account records and monthly income and expense statements. By agreement of the parties, the Special Master also met informally with Husband’s CPA.

On November 30, 1998, the Special Master filed a detailed and comprehensive 20 page Special Master’s Report. That Report states that the witnesses’ testimony at the hearings “was at many times conflicting, contradictory and irreconcilable, requiring the Special Master to make difficult decisions regarding credibility.” He itemized the parties’ assets and meticulously described the valuation methods used to prepare his Report. Applying the described valuation methods, the Special Master determined, among other things, that Husband’s business Horsing Around, Inc., had a value of $85,000. He also *299 determined that Fortunes Untold, Inc., which operates four (now five) pawn shops, had a value of $579,289, which he reduced by 30 percent to account for the 30 percent of stock owned by the parties’ daughter, Donna Manis. He then discounted Donna Manis’ interest by 25 percent because Husband retains the controlling interest, thus leaving a marital estate value for Fortunes Untold of $448,949.28. The parties, through counsel, earlier had agreed that the Trial Court should accept certain amounts as the marital estate values of their remaining real properties, and the Special Master accepted the agreed values. This resulted in a total marital estate of $847,949.

The Special Master then determined that the marital estate should be divided equally, with Wife receiving a total award of $423,974.64. To accomplish the division of marital assets, he awarded Wife the marital home on Della Drive in Powell, Tennessee, with equity of $120,000, and onerated Husband with the mortgage. Wife was also awarded property on North Ridge Road, valued at $100,000. To secure her remaining $203,974.64 share of the marital estate, the Special Master granted her liens against Husband’s business properties and required Husband to deposit his shares of stock in Horsing Around, Inc. and Fortunes Untold, Inc. with the Clerk of the Circuit Court as security. Husband also was enjoined from issuing additional stock or otherwise divesting his 100 percent stock ownership in Horsing Around, Inc. or his 70 percent interest in Fortunes Untold, Inc. without judicial approval. All sales of real estate owned by Husband were to be conditioned upon and subject to Court approval, including price and the amount of the proceeds to be applied to satisfaction of Wife’s equitable distribution award. The Special Master made other findings and dispositions as to specific assets and liabilities.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
49 S.W.3d 295, 2001 Tenn. App. LEXIS 48, 2001 WL 60616, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/manis-v-manis-tennctapp-2001.