McCleary v. McCleary

822 A.2d 460, 150 Md. App. 448, 2002 Md. App. LEXIS 224
CourtCourt of Special Appeals of Maryland
DecidedDecember 27, 2002
Docket2614, Sept. Term, 2001
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 822 A.2d 460 (McCleary v. McCleary) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Special Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCleary v. McCleary, 822 A.2d 460, 150 Md. App. 448, 2002 Md. App. LEXIS 224 (Md. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

DAVIS, Judge.

Appellant Christopher R. McCleary appeals an order issued by the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County that granted appellant an Absolute Divorce and awarded appellee Mari Kathleen McCleary .a marital property award totaling $2,100,000, indefinite alimony in the amount of $6,000 per month, and a $150,000 contribution toward appellee’s attorney’s fees. On appeal, appellant presents for our consideration four issues, 1 which we have rephrased and combined into three questions as' follows: •

I. Did the trial court err in granting appellee a $2,100,000 marital property award?
II. . Did the trial court err in finding that appellant had dissipated $964,175 of the marital assets?
*453 III. Did the trial court err in awarding appellee attorney’s fees?

We answer appellant’s questions one and two in the affirmative and question three in the negative, thereby vacating the judgment of the trial court.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The parties were married in 1978. Three children were born of the marriage, all of whom are still minors. Both parties have undergraduate degrees.

In August 1978, shortly after their marriage, the parties moved to Arnold, Maryland, and purchased a townhouse in which they resided. Appellant was employed at American Seamless Tubing, earning a salary of $18,000 per year. Appellee was an elementary school teacher at St. Jane Frances.

In 1979, the parties moved into a house that they built in the Chartridge Community in Severna Park, Maryland. They kept the Arnold townhouse as investment rental property. Appellee was employed as a waitress at the Crofton Country Club and eventually became the banquet manager. It was at the country club that she engaged in an extramarital affair with a co-worker. The parties separated and later reconciled.

The parties began a series of moves spanning from 1981 through 1993, which were dictated by appellant’s movement up the ladder in the corporate and financial world. The cities in which the parties lived included Fairfax, Virginia, Houston, Texas, Cincinnati, Ohio, Washington, D.C., and Reston, Virginia.

Appellee was employed with various hotel chains until the birth of their first child, Caitlin, in 1986. The parties decided that appellee would resign from her employment to be Caitlin’s primary caretaker. Kelsey, the parties’ second child, was born in 1989. Approximately five years later, Caroline, the parties’ third child was born.

In January 1996, appellant accepted employment as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Digex in Beltsville, *454 Maryland, at a salary of $150,000 per year plus bonus. In 1997, when Digex was sold, appellant was earning $250,000 per year plus bonus and had stock options worth $8.4 million. After the sale, appellant resigned in contemplation of starting his own company and exercised his stock options. Consequently, in 1997, appellant had income of $9,161,265 and the family’s net worth increased to more than $6 million.

Appellant began planning the structure of the company that would become USinternetworking, Inc. (USi), an application service provider leasing application software over the internet. Along with two other individuals, appellant founded USi, incorporating on January 4, 1998. Appellee, who wanted to return to the workplace, began working as Vice President of Corporate Relations at USi, although she did not receive a salary. The parties, therefore, employed Alice Drinnon as a full-time housekeeper and nanny. Additional nannies were hired to care for the children throughout the day.

In 1998, the parties had a joint income of $584,685, of which $131,455 was appellant’s salary and $367,000 was interest and capital gains on the Digex funds. In August 1998, the parties purchased 37 Boone Trail at a cost of $865,000, with a mortgage of $700,000. The property was extensively renovated and redecorated at a cost of $1,176,854.

In January 1999, appellant formed McCleary Maritime Properties, LLC (MMP) to purchase an Annapolis marina for $2.1 million. Appellant did not discuss the purchase with appellee until after he had bought the property. Appellant formed Wildcat Marine Operating Co., Inc., later renamed McCleary’s Pier 4 Marina, Inc., to operate the marina. Appellee managed the operation of the marina and office rentals.

On April 4, 1999, USi made its initial public offering. In December 1999, appellant exercised an option to buy 375,000 shares at $20.50 for a total of $2,250,000. Appellant financed the option exercise by borrowing $2.25 million from USi. The loan was represented by a promissory note dated September 24, 1999. Because the option exercise resulted in taxable income of more than $5 million, USi lent appellant another *455 $1,900,000 to cover his additional tax obligation. This loan was also represented by a promissory note dated December 21,1999. Both loans were later consolidated into a single loan of $4,284,744 represented by a promissory note dated July 24, 2000, bearing nine percent annual interest, payable on demand with ninety-days’ notice.

In February 2000, appellant sold 313,968 of his USi shares for $18,841,220. The parties placed $3.4 million of the Digex funds into brokerage accounts at Merrill Lynch, Legg Mason and Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). On March 15, 2000, appellant purchased a twenty-five percent timeshare interest in a Citation II aircraft from Flight Option for $684,866. The parties also purchased property at Ferry Farms for $2,034,836.

On June 2, 2000, appellant formed AHS to develop a charter helicopter service. AHS purchased a helicopter for $1.45 million in cash with funds advanced by appellant. In March 2001, AHS negotiated a $1 million loan from General Electric Capital (GE Capital), secured by the aircraft and by appellant’s individual guaranty. The proceeds went to McCleary Capital Group, LLC (MCG) — appellant’s wholly-owned company that served as a holding company for AHS and MMP.

USi stock prices declined drastically in 2001. On September 28, 2001, USi served appellant with a demand for repayment of the note plus accrued interest on or before December 27, 2001. Appellant protested, stating that he had understood that the consolidated note was merely a “retention hook” loan to be forgiven if he fulfilled his obligations under his employment agreement. USi disagreed, and its vice president and general counsel stated that the company would take any necessary action to collect on the note. In January 2002, the company declared bankruptcy and the bankruptcy court terminated appellant’s employment contract.

Meanwhile, in January 2000, appellee began exhibiting erratic behavior by drinking to excess and staying out late. A few months later, one of the household assistants resigned upon learning that appellee had purchased Phentermine in her *456 name over the internet. It was subsequently learned that appellee had made similar purchases in Caitlin’s name.

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Bluebook (online)
822 A.2d 460, 150 Md. App. 448, 2002 Md. App. LEXIS 224, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccleary-v-mccleary-mdctspecapp-2002.