Young v. Young

278 S.W.3d 603, 101 Ark. App. 454, 2008 Ark. App. LEXIS 210
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 5, 2008
DocketCA 07-540
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 278 S.W.3d 603 (Young v. Young) 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
Young v. Young, 278 S.W.3d 603, 101 Ark. App. 454, 2008 Ark. App. LEXIS 210 (Ark. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinions

Sarah J. Heffley, Judge.

This appeal arises out of the divorce between appellant Larry Dean Young and appellee Debra Loraine Young. In distributing the parties’ property, the trial court found that appellant occupied a position of trust and dominance over appellee and that he exercised undue influence over her when she executed a deed creating a tenancy by the entirety in property she received from her father. Based on these findings, the trial court set aside the deed and declared the land to be appellee’s sole and separate property. The trial court also made an unequal division of marital property by awarding appellee the marital home that was built on the land. Appellant challenges both of these decisions on appeal, but finding no error, we affirm.

The Deed

The parties in this case had been married for seventeen years until April 2006 when they separated and appellee filed for divorce. They both had been married once before, and they each had two children from their previous marriages. The four children resided with them until reaching adulthood.

In the summer of 2003, appellee’s father was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and required around-the-clock care. Although employed full-time, appellee tended to her father on a daily basis, sometimes before work or during lunch, and she prepared his dinner almost every night. Her father’s property had been in trust, and in June 2003 appellee received a conveyance of sixty acres of land from the trust, titled solely in her name.

In July 2003, appellee’s son Cody died quite unexpectedly. Initially, the cause of death was a mystery, and because of his young age, either suicide or foul play was suspected. It was several months before the autopsy results were received, which revealed that he had died of an undiagnosed heart condition.

In August 2003, the month after her son died, appellee executed a quitclaim deed adding appellant’s name to the deed. Appellee’s father passed away the following November.

At the trial, appellee’s first witness was her personal physician, Dr. Jennifer Bingham, who specialized in internal medicine. Dr. Bingham had treated appellee since 2000 for the chronic conditions of hypertension and Crohn’s disease. Dr. Bingham explained that Crohn’s disease involves the inflammation of the colon, and she said that this condition was exacerbated by stress. Normally, Dr. Bingham saw appellee every three months, but in the summer of 2003 she had appellee come into the office every two weeks because she was worried about her. Dr. Bingham was aware of Cody’s death and the illness of appellee’s father. She also knew that appellee had marital problems stemming from a previous affair appellant had with another woman. Dr. Bingham stated that appellee was experiencing multiple flare-ups of her Crohn’s disease and episodes of infections such as sinusitis and bronchitis, which Dr. Bingham attributed to decreased resistance from stress. Dr. Bingham also treated appellant for depression that summer.

Dr. Bingham testified that appellee was “devastated,” “distraught,” and “overwhelmed” with grief over the death of her son. Dr. Bingham added that appellee was “not thinking right” and that her ability to conduct the affairs of daily life was “extremely compromised.” Appellee was not able to participate in making sound health-care decisions, as shown by her declining to fill prescriptions that Dr. Bingham had prescribed. Dr. Bingham said this was uncharacteristic of appellee, who usually complied with her medical recommendations.

Appellee spoke to Dr. Bingham about the land transaction. Dr. Bingham testified that appellee was feeling very much alone in the aftermath of Cody’s death and in the midst of her father’s illness. Appellee told her that appellant had threatened to leave her unless his name was added to the deed, and she said that appellee felt “completely forced” into doing it, and that appellee felt “awful” for having done so. Dr. Bingham testified as to her belief that appellee would not have given appellant an interest in the property had she not been so ill and “swimming in grief.” She said that appellee’s resistance was at a low ebb because every bit of her strength and endurance had been drained from dealing with Cody’s death, her father’s sickness, and her own illnesses. Dr. Bingham also testified that, based on her numerous conversations with appellee, appellant was the dominant figure in the marriage.

The trial court also heard the testimony of appellee’s friend and coworker, Nora Hall. She had known appellee for nineteen years since appellee began working at the company. Ms. Hall said that the summer of 2003 was a difficult time for appellee because of Cody’s death and her father’s declining health. She testified that appellee was worried about her father and that caring for him took up a lot of her time and energy. Ms. Hall said that Cody’s death “wiped her out” and that appellee was so depressed that she “was just like a zombie.” Appellee missed a lot of work, and her work decreased in quality. Ms. Hall explained that appellee and Cody had been very close and that they had spoken to one another on the phone every day. She stated that Cody was appellee’s “support system,” and whereas appellee was estranged from her daughter, Cody had always been there for appellee and loved her unconditionally.

Ms. Hall was of the opinion that appellant dominated appellee. She testified that appellant was very jealous and that he called appellee at work five or six times a day and checked the parking lot to see if appellee’s car had been moved at lunch. She said that appellee was always aware of where she stood in a room in relation to male coworkers and that appellee was afraid to be seen in a car with a male coworker when they went to lunch as a group. Appellant would not allow appellee to go to a bar that he frequented that was across the street from their work. Ms. Hall also testified that appellee had to ask appellant for permission to go on trips with the girls and that before any trip appellee would be nervous and agitated to the point of physical illness because of appellant’s warnings about what appellee could and could not do during the outing.

During Ms. Hall’s testimony several photographs she had taken of appellee were introduced into evidence. These photographs showed extensive bruising on appellee’s arms, which ap-pellee said had been inflicted by appellant.

Gene George, part owner of the company where appellee worked, echoed the previous witnesses’ testimony that appellee was despondent and not herself in the summer of 2003. He said that appellee was not functioning at her usual level and that he had been worried about her.

Appellee testified that she was devastated by Cody’s death. She referred to him as her “rock” and said that they were very close. After his death, she said she “functioned like in a fog.” She had trouble remembering her activities at the end of the day. She said that she was exhausted both mentally and physically.

Appellee further testified that appellant had caused the bruises shown in the photographs that Ms. Hall had taken and that there were other times he had been physically abusive. She said that on occasion she would be angry when appellant came home late and that she would try to get out of bed, but that appellant would hold her down and not let her get up.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
278 S.W.3d 603, 101 Ark. App. 454, 2008 Ark. App. LEXIS 210, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/young-v-young-arkctapp-2008.