Woodfin v. Woodfin

26 So. 3d 389, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 24, 2010 WL 160591
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 19, 2010
Docket2008-CA-01443-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 26 So. 3d 389 (Woodfin v. Woodfin) 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
Woodfin v. Woodfin, 26 So. 3d 389, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 24, 2010 WL 160591 (Mich. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

GRIFFIS, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Paris and Mary Woodfin were granted a divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences. They agreed to submit certain issues to the chancellor for adjudication. Paris asserts that the chancellor: (1) abused his discretion in finding Paris in contempt, (2) improperly distributed the marital debts and Paris’s retirement assets, (3) failed to apply the correct legal standard in determining periodic alimony, (4) abused his discretion in requiring Paris to provide insurance indefinitely for Mary, (5) awarded child support in a manner not supported by the record and set without reference to guidelines, and (6) erred because the combined awards of spousal and child support are per se unreasonable because they do not allow Paris to maintain a decent standard of living.

FACTS

¶ 2. Paris and Mary were married on December 10, 1985. They separated on June 24, 2005. They have four children, one daughter and three sons. Two children attend Auburn University, and two children live with Mary.

¶ 3. When they married, Paris was a high school graduate with a business certificate from a technical college, and Mary had completed one year of college. During the marriage, Paris served in the United States Army until 1994; then he worked as a field engineer and attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for a bachelor’s degree. Mary was primarily a housewife and held a few part-time jobs in the beginning of the marriage.

¶ 4. At the time of the separation, Paris was a field engineer for Lockheed Martin, and he was pursuing his masters degree from Embry-Riddle; Mary was a part-time sales associate for a clothing store. Paris has chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a service-related knee injury.

¶ 5. On August 16, 2005, Paris filed a complaint for divorce based on the ground of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment or, in the alternative, on the ground of irreconcilable differences.

¶ 6. On March 14, 2007, the parties entered into an Agreed Temporary Order (the “Temporary Order”). In the Temporary Order, the parties agreed to joint legal custody of the children, with Mary having primary physical custody and temporary child support; spousal support was paid to Mary. The order also required each party to pay for one-half of the children’s medical expenses not covered by insurance.

¶ 7. On July 25, 2007, Mary filed a motion for citation of contempt. Mary claimed Paris had failed to pay child support, spousal support, and his half of the children’s medical bills.

*392 ¶8. The hearing for divorce and the motion of contempt was set for November 27, 2007. Prior to the hearing, Paris paid $2,500 of the child support arrearage. At the hearing, the parties agreed to a divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences. They executed a consent to adjudicate and written stipulation agreement (the “Agreement”). The Agreement included the following provisions: (1) Mary and Paris would have joint legal custody of the children, with Mary having primary physical custody; (2) Paris agreed to pay $1,200 per month in child support, tuition to a four-year college for each child at a state-supported school, and the children’s medical insurance; (3) each party agreed to pay one-half of the children’s non-eov-ered medical costs; (4) they divided some of the personal property; and (5) they agreed that Mary would receive alimony. The parties consented to allow the chancellor to adjudicate the following issues: (1) the amount of periodic alimony, (2) contempt as to temporary support and medical bills, and (3) attorney’s fees for contempt and divorce.

¶ 9. At the hearing through oral stipulation, Paris and Mary requested that the chancellor also determine the ownership of the couple’s personal property, which was in storage.

¶ 10. Mary submitted the following medical bills of the children in support of the motion for contempt:

Dameon August 6, 2006 $ 265.23 1
Paris August 30,2007 $ 442.86
Aundrea June 26, 2007 $ 430.50
Dameon June 26, 2007 $ 430.50
Dijon June 26,2007 $ 446.25
Paris June 26, 2007 $ 430.50
Total $2,445.84

¶ 11. On July 21, 2008, the chancellor entered a judgment that awarded Mary a house in Alabama (which had been purchased after the separation with HUD assistance); $700 per month as periodic alimony; $1,200 per month as child support; half of the children’s college expenses for an in-state school; half of Paris’s retirement accounts in the sum of $9,000; and the chancellor ordered Paris to maintain Mary’s medical insurance to the maximum amount allowed under COBRA and to pay the children’s insurance. The chancellor ordered that the medical bills not covered under insurance be split equally between Mary and Paris.

¶ 12. On the motion for contempt, the chancellor ordered Paris to pay the amount owed under the temporary order which was $1,400. Further, the chancellor found Paris in contempt for not paying the children’s medical bills and gave him sixty days to pay the medical bills. The chancellor ordered Paris to pay Mary’s attorney’s fees of $2,500 for the cost of executing the contempt motion and withholding order. It is from this judgment that Paris now appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 13. “This Court will affirm the decision of the chancellor when it is supported by substantial evidence unless the chancellor abused his discretion, the decision was manifestly wrong or clearly erroneous, or the chancellor applied an erroneous legal standard.” Pool v. Pool, 989 So.2d 920, 923(¶ 9) (Miss.Ct.App.2008).

ANALYSIS

1. Whether the chancellor abused his discretion in finding Paris in contempt of the Temporary Order.

¶ 14. Paris argues that he did not willfully and deliberately ignore his obligation *393 to pay support; thus, he was not in contempt. Paris also contends that it was error for the chancellor to find Paris in contempt for not paying the medical bills for the children because Paris and Mary had agreed to divide the costs of the children’s medical bills. Also, Paris claims that one medical bill was incurred prior to the Temporary Order and that Mary should have submitted it prior to the Temporary Order.

¶ 15. The March 14, 2007, Temporary Order required Paris to pay temporary spousal support and child support, and it ordered Mary and Paris each to pay for one-half of the children’s medical expenses not covered by insurance. By July 2007, Paris was $3,900 behind in support payments. Mary’s motion for citation of contempt sought to recover Paris’s arrearage and his share of the children’s medical bills.

¶ 16. Civil contempt is the willful refusal of a party to comply with an order, and not the mere inability to pay. McCardle v. McCardle, 862 So.2d 1290, 1293(¶ 10) (Miss.Ct.App.2004). A payor’s failure to comply with a court order is prima facie evidence of contempt. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
26 So. 3d 389, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 24, 2010 WL 160591, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodfin-v-woodfin-missctapp-2010.