Moring v. Moring

CourtCourt of Appeals of South Carolina
DecidedDecember 3, 2004
Docket2004-UP-605
StatusUnpublished

This text of Moring v. Moring (Moring v. Moring) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moring v. Moring, (S.C. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 239(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

Amber E. Moring, Respondent,

v.

James R. Moring, Appellant.


Appeal From Charleston County
 Frances P. Segars-Andrews, Family Court Judge


Unpublished Opinion No.  2004-UP-605
Heard November 10, 2004 – Filed December 3, 2004


AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART AND REMANDED


Stephan Victor Futeral, of Mt. Pleasant, for Appellant.

Susan Trout Kinard, of Mt. Pleasant, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  In this divorce action, Husband appeals from an order of the family court asserting the family court erred in (1) apportioning marital debt, (2) finding certain property to be transmuted into marital property, (3) determining child care costs for child support purposes, (4) requiring Husband to pay a percentage of private school tuition, (5) requiring Husband to attend anger management, (6) determining Wife’s income in previous and more recent years, (7) determining Husband’s income, (8) ordering Husband to return an engagement ring to Wife, (9) awarding Wife $28,000 in attorney’s fees, and (10) dismissing Husband’s Rule to Show Cause . We affirm in part, and reverse in part and remand.

FACTUAL/PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Husband and Wife were married on May 11, 1996 and have two daughters, Alex who was four and Mimi who was fifteen months at the time of the final hearing.  They separated in March, 2000, while Wife was pregnant with Mimi.   On March 15, 2000, Wife filed this action seeking, among other things, a divorce on the ground of physical cruelty, custody, child and spousal support, possession of the marital home, equitable division of marital assets and debts, and attorney’s fees.  Husband answered, denying the material allegations, and counterclaimed seeking custody and attorney’s fees. 

Following an October 25, 2001 hearing in a bifurcated trial, the family court granted Wife a divorce on the ground of one year continuous separation, and incorporated the parties’ agreement giving Wife custody and providing a partial agreement regarding Husband’s visitation, with the final agreement to be determined when the hearing reconvened.  The Court reconvened on January 10 and 14, 2002, and thereafter issued its order (1) requiring Husband to pay the parties’ marital debt of $9,500 on the Providian credit card debt, (2) finding the Husband’s condominium had been transmuted into marital property and awarding Husband possession of the home but finding Wife was entitled to fifty percent equity in the home, (3) finding the engagement ring non-marital and awarding Wife ownership and possession of it, (4) further setting forth Husband’s visitation, (5) determining retroactive child support and ongoing child support based on previous and current incomes of the parties, (6) finding the expenses of a nanny to be reasonable child care expenses for child support determinations, (7) ordering Husband to pay fifty percent of the cost of private school tuition for the children, and (8) ordering Husband to pay $28,000 toward Wife’s attorney’s fees and costs. 

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In appeals from the family court, this court has the authority to find the facts in accordance with its own view of preponderance of the evidence.  Rutherford v. Rutherford, 307 S.C. 199, 204, 414 S.E.2d 157, 160 (1992).  This broad scope of review does not, however, require this court to disregard the findings of the family court.  Stevenson v. Stevenson, 276 S.C. 475, 477, 279 S.E.2d 616, 617 (1981).  Neither are we required to ignore the fact that the trial judge, who saw and heard the witnesses, was in a better position to evaluate their credibility and assign comparative weight to their testimony.  Cherry v. Thomasson, 276 S.C. 524, 525, 280 S.E.2d 541, 541 (1981).

LAW/ANALYSIS

I. Providian Debt

Husband first contends the family court erred in failing to determine the final amount he must pay on the Providian bank card debt.  He contends, at the temporary hearing, Wife represented there was a $9,500 balance owed to Providian, he was ordered to pay $300 per month toward marital debt, and the court failed, in the final order, to give him credit for $7,200 he had paid toward the debt.  He asks this court to find the balance owed by him on the debt to be $2,300. 

The record shows, following a temporary hearing on April 12, 2000, Husband was ordered to pay $300 toward debts listed on Wife’s financial declaration.  This amount apparently was not limited to just the Providian debt, and the order did not specifically mention a Providian debt.  Other than Wife’s January 2002 financial declaration submitted at the final hearing, the only other evidence showing the Providian debt is an unsigned, undated financial declaration of the Wife during the time of her previous employment, which indicates a Providian debt balance of $9,500.  Because this document is not signed or dated, it is impossible to determine whether the Providian debt was $9,500 at the time of the temporary hearing.  At any rate, this document shows debt from at least four other major credit cards with a total balance of $35,900, not including the Providian balance.  By the time of the final hearing, Wife’s financial declaration showed a Providian debt balance of $9,500, but listed only two other major credit card debts totaling a little over $17,000.  Wife testified at the final hearing that the only marital credit card debt left was the Providian debt.  Thus, even if we were to consider this unsigned, undated document as evidence, it shows Wife paid down a substantial portion of the credit card debt.  Because none of the proceedings from the temporary hearing are included within the record, it is impossible to determine which of these various debts were purported to be marital at the time of the temporary hearing.  See Wint v. Wint, 310 S.C. 48, 50, 425 S.E.2d 48, 50 (Ct. App.

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Related

Rutherford v. Rutherford
414 S.E.2d 157 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1992)
Sexton v. Sexton
427 S.E.2d 665 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1993)
Frank v. Frank
429 S.E.2d 823 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 1993)
Glasscock v. Glasscock
403 S.E.2d 313 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1991)
Abbott v. Gore
403 S.E.2d 154 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 1991)
Noisette v. Ismail
403 S.E.2d 122 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1991)
Cherry v. Thomasson
280 S.E.2d 541 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1981)
Patel v. Patel
599 S.E.2d 114 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2004)
Shirley v. Shirley
536 S.E.2d 427 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2000)
Widman v. Widman
557 S.E.2d 693 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2001)
Stevenson v. Stevenson
279 S.E.2d 616 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1981)
Calhoun v. Calhoun
529 S.E.2d 14 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2000)
Wint v. Wint
425 S.E.2d 48 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 1992)

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