Ryburn v. Ryburn

2014 Ark. App. 108, 432 S.W.3d 102, 2014 WL 554406, 2014 Ark. App. LEXIS 136
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedFebruary 12, 2014
DocketCV-13-653
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2014 Ark. App. 108 (Ryburn v. Ryburn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ryburn v. Ryburn, 2014 Ark. App. 108, 432 S.W.3d 102, 2014 WL 554406, 2014 Ark. App. LEXIS 136 (Ark. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

LARRY D. VAUGHT, Judge.

| ]Pro se appellant Joe Ryburn appeals two post-divorce 1 orders of the Saline County Circuit Court: a May 2011 order reducing child support, and a June 2011 order holding Mr. Ryburn in contempt and awarding appellee Janet Ryburn $104,000 for the appraised value of the marital home. 2 This is the third time this pro se appeal is before our court. In Ryburn v. Ryburn, 2012 Ark. App. 256, 2012 WL 1328921, we ordered rebriefing because Mr. Ryburn’s brief did not comply with our rules. When the appeal returned to us, we dismissed without prejudice for lack of a final order. Ryburn v. Ryburn, 2012 Ark. App. 435, 2012 WL 3744757. Because the circuit court has since entered an 12order of dismissal regarding third-party defendant Wells Fargo, we consider the appeal on the merits and affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

Under the agreement, as set forth in the parties’ 2004 divorce decree, Ms. Ryburn was awarded custody of the parties’ minor children and was to occupy the home with them “until [she] acquires an alternative dwelling, or until the parties agree to dispose of the house through a sale. Should such sale occur, the parties shall divide the proceeds from said sale equally.” Mr. Ry-burn was to continue paying all bills, including the home mortgage, credit cards, and all utilities until Ms. Ryburn became “able to pay some of them through her own income,” and she was to make a good-faith effort to attempt to earn a supplemental income.

In an August 2009 letter to Ms. Ryburn, Mr. Ryburn wrote that on the advice of his attorney, he had begun foreclosure proceedings on the marital house, which would “take from both of us a burden that will never be of value given the condition of the house and the fact that it is mortgaged for significantly more than can be gained from sale of the house.” He wrote that he had phoned Wells Fargo that morning to begin the proceedings and that Ms. Ryburn had the option of continuing to own the house by seeking her own mortgage, with probably about sixty days before the bank would evict her. He also wrote that he had spoken with bankruptcy lawyers and advised that she do the same. He concluded: “After five years of paying you $4,500 a month including mortgage, utilities, child support and every thing else you’ve gotten, the free ride is over. I believe $270,000 is more than sufficient payment. Thank you for not contacting me.”

In a December 2009 order, the circuit court set child support at $1463 a month. Mr. Ryburn (through his attorney) filed a motion for modification in February 2010, alleging in part | athat Ms. Ryburn had not attempted to acquire an alternative dwelling; that therefore, the house should be sold; that Ms. Ryburn should be responsible for mortgage payments until the sale because she was residing there; and that Mr. Ryburn’s income had dropped, and he should no longer be required to make house payments because she had already had six years to relocate.

In a March 2010 order, the circuit court found that Ms. Ryburn had sufficient income to pay household utilities but not other bills. 3 It denied Mr. Ryburn’s request to sell the marital home, observing that the decree was contractual and that the home could be sold only upon “[Ms. Ryburn’s] acquiring an alternate dwelling, or the parties agreeing to dispose of the house through a sale.” The court found that it lacked authority to sell the house without either condition being met.

In an order of June 2010, the circuit court noted that Mr. Ryburn did not appear despite being given notice. It granted his attorney’s oral motion to withdraw and found Mr. Ryburn in contempt based on his refusal to make mortgage payments on the parties’ marital home as required by the court’s previous order. The court also found that Mr. Ryburn was in arrears in the payment of mortgage, penalties, and interest in the amount of $4870.69 and ordered him to pay all arrearages, interest, and penalties delinquent on the house and to make all future payments on the house in a timely manner as required by the previous orders. Further, based on Mr. Ryburn’s failure to attend the hearing, the court issued a Writ of Body Attachment ^commanding the appropriate law-enforcement officers “to take [Mr. Ryburn] into custody and hold [him there] until he appears before this court or post a cash bond.”

In January 2011, Ms. Ryburn filed a motion requesting that Mr. Ryburn be held in contempt for failing to pay the mortgage on the home, which was subject to foreclosure and sale. She prayed that she be awarded the reasonable rental value of the home for her entire life expectancy or, alternatively, be compensated for his failure to maintain the home and/or take necessary steps to allow her to remain there. A mutual restraining order, entered the same day, restrained each party from selling, encumbering, contracting to sell, or otherwise disposing of property belonging to the parties except in the ordinary course of business. In April 2011, Mr. Ryburn requested a reduction in child support and claimed a $7696 overpayment.

On May 31, 2011, the circuit court reduced child support to $1218 a month, reserving other issues. In an order entered on June 8, 2011, the circuit court again found appellant in contempt for failure to pay the mortgage as required in the 2004 decree and subsequent orders, which the court characterized as a “domestic support obligation” 4 and awarded Ms. Ryburn judgment of $104,000 plus interest. Mr. Ryburn appeals from these two orders and presents ten points of alleged error: 1) that the divorce decree and property-settlement agreement should be set aside based on its incomprehensible wording and the court’s prejudicial interpretation; 2) that the court erred in denying him the ability to present evidence that the contractual obligation to be able to sell the house had been fulfilled; 3) that the court erred in its interpretation of the divorce decree and its prejudicial ruling; 4) that the court erred in refusing to divide the marital | sdebt on the home and in awarding Ms. Ryburn judgment in the amount of $104,000; 5) that the court erred in finding Mr. Ryburn in contempt absent evidence of willful conduct; 6) that the court erred in refusing to consider evidence that Ms. Ryburn violated the restraining order and giving her preferential treatment concerning the condition of the marital property; 7) that Ms. Ryburn’s attorney should be reprimanded for changing the wording of the court in its orders; 8) that we should remind the circuit court that pro se litigants are to be treated with the same respect due any member of the court; 9) that the circuit court erred in not allowing into evidence Mr. Ryburn’s payments of support and resulting indebtedness; 10) that the circuit court erred in the amount of child support it set on two separate occasions.

In consideration of the points on appeal, we remind Mr. Ryburn that pro se litigants are held to the same standards as attorneys. Ryburn v. Ryburn, 2012 Ark. App. 256, 2012 WL 1328921 (citing Perry v. State, 287 Ark. 384, 699 S.W.2d 739 (1985)); Walker v. State, 283 Ark. 339, 676 S.W.2d 460 (1984).

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Bluebook (online)
2014 Ark. App. 108, 432 S.W.3d 102, 2014 WL 554406, 2014 Ark. App. LEXIS 136, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ryburn-v-ryburn-arkctapp-2014.