Massengill, J. v. Massengill, S.

CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedMay 19, 2020
Docket958 EDA 2018
StatusUnpublished

This text of Massengill, J. v. Massengill, S. (Massengill, J. v. Massengill, S.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Massengill, J. v. Massengill, S., (Pa. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

J-A27007-19

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

JOANN MASSENGILL : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : SKIP MASSENGILL, : : Appellant : No. 958 EDA 2018

Appeal from the Order Entered February 5, 2018 In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County Civil Division at No(s): 2013-10573, PACSES #: 742113988, PACSES #:372116663

BEFORE: BOWES, J., SHOGAN, J., and STRASSBURGER, J.*

MEMORANDUM BY BOWES, J.: FILED MAY 19, 2020

Skip Massengill (“Husband”) appeals from the February 5, 2018 order

denying his contempt petition against his former wife, Joann (“Wife”), seeking

to enforce the terms of the parties’ property settlement agreement

(“Agreement”) regarding the calculation of his alimony obligation.1 We vacate

the order and remand for entry of an order consistent with this memorandum.

Husband and Wife married on January 13, 1990, separated in May 2013,

and divorced on June 2, 2015. Three children were born of the marriage, all

of whom are now emancipated. On April 16, 2015, the parties, each

____________________________________________

*Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. 1 This Court previously determined that the order appealed from was a final order and remanded for a trial court opinion addressing the merits of Husband’s appeal. See Judgment Order, 11/15/18, at 2. The trial court complied, and the parties have filed supplemental briefs addressing the trial court’s opinion. J-A27007-19

represented by counsel, entered into the Agreement, which contains

provisions regarding alimony payable to Wife by Husband, the marital

residence that was the subject of a foreclosure proceeding, retirement

accounts, and personal property. The terms of the Agreement were expressly

incorporated, but not merged, into the divorce decree.

The record reveals the following. Husband agreed to pay alimony to

Wife indefinitely. He is a broker and his monthly income, including

commissions, varies widely from month to month. In order to accommodate

the volatility in his earnings, the Agreement contained a formula for

calculating the amount of alimony due annually. If Husband’s net earned

income exceeded $200,000 per year, he would pay Wife $60,000 annually in

alimony. Net earned income was defined in the Agreement as “Husband’s

gross earned income less the taxes on his income” without “any deductions

for any health insurance premiums, or retirement benefits, or anything else

other than taxes.” N.T. 4/16/15, at 15. “If for any reason he did not pay

[$60,000], he will make any additional payment he needs to make within

[thirty] days of the receipt of the year-end paystub.” N.T., 4/16/15, at 12.

In any event, alimony was capped at $5,000 per month.

The Agreement further provided that if Husband’s annual net earned

income was less than $200,000, Wife would be entitled to thirty percent of

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that amount. Id. At the end of each year, there would be a “true-up” to

reconcile the amount paid to date with the amount owing or overpaid.2

The parties entered into a support agreement providing for the Domestic

Relations Office’s (“DRO”) attachment of Husband’s wages each month. The

DRO attached Husband’s earnings at the level of $5,000 per month. 3 In

recognition that there could be months when Husband would not earn

sufficient income to attach his wages in the full amount, and Wife would not

receive any or all of the alimony payment, Wife agreed not to enforce or

commence contempt proceedings as long as Husband’s wages were attached

and he was making payments according to the Agreement. 4 At year-end,

Wife’s brother, who is a tax attorney, or an agreed-upon neutral, would

perform the true-up.

The Agreement further provided that Husband would retain exclusive

possession of the marital residence, which was the subject of a foreclosure

2 In this context, a true-up is a year-end accounting and reconciliation of alimony amounts paid by Husband with the amounts owed. The latter would be calculated by applying the formula set forth in the Agreement, which was based on Husband’s annual net earned income.

3 The record reveals that DRO does not attach wages based on a percentage of income, but only for a specific dollar amount. Hence, DRO attached Husband’s wages/commissions at the flat rate of $5,000 per month, and any deficiencies were treated as arrearages. Husband appears to have been unaware of this limitation early on in the litigation.

4 The Agreement also provided for interim catch-up provisions in the event Wife did not receive her full $5,000 in one or more months due to Husband’s low earnings, but Husband’s net income in successive months exceeded $17,000 per month.

-3- J-A27007-19

proceeding. Wife agreed to sign over the deed to Husband, with the

understanding that she would remain on the mortgage. Wife agreed to

cooperate with Husband’s mortgage foreclosure attorney, Paul Stewart,

Esquire. Husband was responsible for all costs and expenses related to Mr.

Stewart’s representation, with one exception not relevant herein. Husband

agreed to indemnify and hold Wife harmless from any deficiency judgment

that could result. Wife waived any right to rent for the period of time Husband

had been residing in the marital residence.

There were a number of contempt petitions filed by Husband

commencing in 2015, numerous hearings were held, and most disputes were

resolved.5 However, two issues remained outstanding. At a July 19, 2017

hearing, Wife complained that Husband had not supplied her with copies of

his 2015 and 2016 tax returns, and that alimony arrearages exceeded

$63,586.30. Husband responded that he had provided his 2015 returns to

Wife six months earlier, and that he was late for court that day because he

5 In 2016, Husband filed a contempt petition against Wife to enforce the provision in the Agreement that she would sign over the deed to the marital home to him, cooperate with the foreclosure attorney, and abstain from trespassing on the property. At the October 20, 2016 hearing on Husband’s contempt petition, Wife initially refused to sign the deed because she thought it unfair that Husband had been living there for five years at no expense. N.T., 10/20/16, at 13. When the court pointed out that this fact must have been considered when the Agreement was signed, Wife maintained that she had “agreed under duress.” Id. at 13. After the court reminded Wife that she had not filed a petition to set aside the order, and that the purpose of the proceeding was to enforce the order, Wife executed the deed and agreed to cooperate in the foreclosure.

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was making copies of his 2016 tax returns for her. Husband contended that

he was not in arrears on his alimony obligation. He maintained that DRO

erroneously charged him at the $5,000 per month rate instead of the thirty

percent level established in the Agreement for a year when his net earned

income did not exceed $200,000.

It was noted that a hearing on the arrears was scheduled in August

2017. The court advised the parties that the hearings on arrears were

necessitated by the true-up provision, as the issues were related and would

result in adjustments on the support. However, due to the untimely exchange

of documentation, the court could not resolve the issue that day. Id. at 11.

The court advised Husband that it was in his interest to resolve the issue, and

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Bluebook (online)
Massengill, J. v. Massengill, S., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/massengill-j-v-massengill-s-pasuperct-2020.