W. B. Williams v. Magnolia Williams

CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 15, 2020
DocketNO. 2019-CA-00776-COA
StatusPublished

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

Bluebook
W. B. Williams v. Magnolia Williams, (Mich. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

NO. 2019-CA-00776-COA

W. B. WILLIAMS APPELLANT

v.

MAGNOLIA WILLIAMS APPELLEE

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 04/18/2019 TRIAL JUDGE: HON. CATHERINE FARRIS-CARTER COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: COAHOMA COUNTY CHANCERY COURT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: DEREK D. HOPSON SR. DEWAYNE HOPSON JR. ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: WILLIAM O. LUCKETT JR. NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - DOMESTIC RELATIONS DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED IN PART; REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART - 09/15/2020 MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED: MANDATE ISSUED:

BEFORE CARLTON, P.J., WESTBROOKS AND LAWRENCE, JJ.

LAWRENCE, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. On February 15, 2019, the Coahoma County Chancery Court granted Magnolia

Williams a divorce from W. B. Williams on the ground of adultery. Following W.B.’s

motion for reconsideration, the chancery court modified the final judgment. W.B. appeals,

claiming that the chancery court erred in (1) granting Magnolia a divorce on the ground of

adultery; (2) drawing the line of demarcation at Magnolia’s complaint for divorce; (3)

dividing the marital property; and (4) awarding Magnolia alimony.

¶2. After review, we affirm the chancery court’s grant of a divorce based on the ground

of adultery. However, we find that the chancery court failed to make sufficient findings of fact as to the value of the marital assets. We also find that the chancellor failed to consider

the applicable Ferguson1 factors when dividing the marital property. Accordingly, we

reverse the chancery court’s judgment as to the equitable distribution of marital property and

alimony and remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶3. W.B. and Magnolia Williams married in June 1973. They have two children

together—Lisa Williams, who was born in 1971, and Wesley Williams, who was born in

1972. Although W.B. and Magnolia agreed that they separated as husband and wife around

1988, they never filed for divorce until Magnolia did so in 2018. Further, once separated,

they never lived together again during the thirty years of separation.

¶4. On April 5, 2018, Magnolia filed a complaint for divorce on the grounds of habitual

cruel and inhuman treatment and adultery or, in the alternative, irreconcilable differences.

Magnolia also sought possession of the marital home and requested both rehabilitative

alimony and periodic alimony.

¶5. On May 4, 2018, W.B. filed his answer, affirmative defenses, and counterclaim for

divorce. He denied Magnolia’s claims of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment and adultery.

Additionally, W.B. sought a divorce on the grounds of desertion, cruel and inhuman

treatment or, in the alternative, irreconcilable differences. During their years of separation,

W.B. owned and ran several businesses, including a bar, a restaurant, a car dealership, and

three rental properties. W.B. and Magnolia shared title to all the properties except the three

1 Ferguson v. Ferguson, 639 So. 2d 921, 928 (Miss. 1994).

2 rental properties, and Magnolia assisted in running all the businesses and helped with filing

tax forms.

I. Divorce Hearing

¶6. The court held a trial on February 5, 2019. At that time, W.B. was sixty-nine years

old and Magnolia was sixty-seven years old. Magnolia testified that she and W.B. moved

to Jonestown, Mississippi, soon after they married. At the time of the hearing, Magnolia still

lived in the marital home. Magnolia testified that she and W.B. separated at some point

between 1973 and 1990, explaining their separation was “an ongoing one.” W.B. testified

that he and Magnolia separated in 1988 and that they never tried to reconcile.

¶7. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Magnolia learned that W.B. had fathered several

children during the course of their marriage. As a devout Jehovah’s Witness, Magnolia

remained married to W.B., hoping that he would “come in” by the time he turned sixty years

old. W.B.’s adultery continued, and he fathered more children with different women.

Because W.B. could not read or write, Magnolia assisted him in filing his tax returns each

year and actually listed each of the illegitimate children on W.B.’s taxes. In 1983, Magnolia

took medication after she suffered a “minor mental lapse” because of W.B.’s lifestyle.2

Magnolia testified that she never forgave W.B. for his adulterous actions.

¶8. In the early 1980s, W.B. and Magnolia purchased a piece of property and started a

2 In 2006, Magnolia had another mental lapse and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

3 small restaurant called Edna’s Kitchen. The couple also purchased another property3 in the

same building, where they ran a separate business—a pool hall. Again, because W.B. was

illiterate, Magnolia managed the finances and solely handled the bookkeeping, taxes, titles,

deeds, and all other documentation related to Edna’s Kitchen and the pool hall. Edna’s

Kitchen closed after five years. Thereafter, W.B. used Edna’s Kitchen as a disco to

compliment the pool hall. Although Magnolia continued in her role as the financial manager,

she refused to enter the disco for religious reasons.

¶9. In 2007, Magnolia purchased a home in Memphis, Tennessee for their daughter. W.B.

had no involvement in the purchase. Magnolia testified that she still owed $92,000 on the

mortgage and that she paid a $654 monthly note. She also testified that she paid the light

bills and water bills for the Memphis home. W.B.’s name was not on the Memphis home,

and he never contributed any money to its purchase or mortgage payments.

¶10. In 2017, Magnolia began receiving supplemental Social Security income. In 2018,

Magnolia received roughly $24,000 in settlement funds as a result of lawsuits against three

different pharmaceutical companies. She testified that she used the money to hire a lawyer

and file for divorce.

¶11. According to Magnolia, W.B. helped her sparingly with financials throughout the past

ten to twenty years, only “paying just what he wanted to,” such as light bills and water bills

for the marital home. W.B. also supported her financially when she attended her religious

conventions. Magnolia testified that W.B. did not substantially pay her for anything else.

3 Although Edna’s Kitchen and the pool hall are in the same building, each has its own separate deed.

4 ¶12. Magnolia’s Rule 8.05 financial statement listed her monthly income as $229, with $37

from Social Security benefits and $192 from public assistance. Her monthly expenses totaled

$2,499.37. Magnolia listed three properties in her statement of assets: (1) the marital home,

valued at $64,000; (2) Edna’s Kitchen and the pool hall, valued at $30,000; and (3) the

Memphis home, valued at $82,000.4

¶13. W.B. testified that he had been living in a back room of Edna’s Kitchen and the pool

hall since their separation. W.B. admitted that Magnolia never forgave him for his adultery.

¶14. W.B. also testified that he gave Magnolia $625 a week until he turned sixty-two years

old, when he began to draw Social Security benefits and “cut the business down.” According

to W.B., Magnolia suffered from a “mental breakdown” around that time and told W.B. “not

to worry about the [$]625 a month no more.”

¶15. At the time of trial, W.B. ran Edna’s Kitchen (as a disco) and the pool hall on a

part-time basis.

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