Case Title: Armstrong v. Armstrong

Citation: 454 S.W.2d 660

Docket Number: 5-5264

State: arkansas

Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Date: 1970-06-01T00:00:00Z

Document:
454 S.W.2d 660 (1970) Howard M. ARMSTRONG, Appellant, v. Mary Nelle ARMSTRONG, Appellee. No. 5-5264. Supreme Court of Arkansas. June 1, 1970. Rehearing Denied June 29, 1970. *661 Carpenter, Finch & McArthur, Little Rock, for appellant. W. J. Walker, Little Rock, for appellee. HARRIS, Chief Justice. On November 14, 1967, the Pulaski County Chancery Court, First Division, entered a decree granting an absolute divorce to Mary Nelle Armstrong, appellee herein, from appellant, Howard M. Armstrong. Incorporated into the decree and made a part thereof was a written agreement between the parties entered into on November 13, 1967, whereby appellant and appellee agreed in full upon a property settlement. Thereafter, Mrs. Armstrong filed a motion asserting that appellant was delinquent in child support and alimony payments and subsequently she sought judgment for the arrearage and asked that appellant be cited for contempt. Subsequently, Dr. Armstrong filed a petition seeking a reduction in the payment "of any and all sums" to appellee, alleging that he had been ill, unable to perform surgical operations, and accordingly his income had been drastically reduced and he was entitled to a reduction in the payment of alimony, support, and maintenance to appellee. On July 2, 1969, the court found that Armstrong was in arrears in his alimony in the sum of $3,843.82, and judgment in that amount was given Mrs. Armstrong, as well as an attorney's fee for her attorney. Notice of appeal of this judgment was given by appellant. On August 29, 1969, a Special Chancellor entered a decree finding that in addition to previous judgments, Armstrong was in arrears in payments of alimony due Mrs. Armstrong in the sum of $2,085.00, and judgment was given her for that amount as well as an additional judgment for $500.00 due Mrs. Armstrong for repayment of a debt, together with attorney's fee. The court also found that: In accordance with this finding, appellant's petition for reduction in alimony payments was denied. From this decree, appellant appeals and the two decrees have been consolidated for appeal purposes. For reversal, it is simply asserted that the chancery court erred in denying reductions in alimony payments, and that its finding that the chancery court lacks power to alter alimony amounts agreed upon by parties in a decree of divorce, is erroneous. We do not agree that the Court committed error, and it might be said that if appellant's position were upheld, there would hardly be any use in parties entering into an independent settlement contract in contemplation of divorce. Both *662 parties agree that if the contract merged with the decree, the court has authority to alter alimony payments, and they likewise agree that if the contract constitutes a separate and independent agreement, the court does not have the authority to change it. Appellant argues that the language in paragraph "1" of the court's order sustains his position. The language referred to is as follows: We do not agree that the fact the agreement is "made a part of the decree of this Court" adds any weight to appellant's position, nor does the fact that the agreement recites that the terms and provisions of the contract may be enforced by orders of the court in the same manner and to like effect as are the judgments and decrees of the court, strengthen the argument. In Bachus v. Bachus, 216 Ark. 802, 227 S.W.2d 439, the parties had entered into a written agreement by which they settled all property rights and agreed that the wife would receive $200.00 per month as alimony, and support for the couple's four children. The Chancellor approved the contract and it was incorporated into the divorce decree. Subsequently, the court entered an order changing the amount Mrs. Bachus would receive as set out by the contract, from $200.00 per month to $150.00 per month. She appealed. In reversing the trial court, we said: Here too, the court might well have punished appellant for contempt if it had found that he was in willful violation of its decree, but as stated in Bachus, the court does not have to enforce the provisions of a decree through contempt proceedings. Of course, one of the purpose of incorporating an agreement that is independently entered into, is to be able to enforce its provisions through contempt proceedings. In Seaton v. Seaton, 221 Ark. 778, 255 S.W.2d 954, this Court said: The fact that Dr. Armstrong entered into an improvident agreement is not grounds for relief, and we think the provisions of the agreement make clear that it was a separate and independent contract entered into between the parties, and independently enforceable in a court of law. There are nine different matters agreed upon by Doctor and Mrs. Armstrong. In item number "5", Dr. Armstrong agrees to pay Mrs. Armstrong, commencing on the date of the divorce "the sum of $160.00 per week as alimony for life (our emphasis) or until she remarries". Still further in the same paragraph, "In addition the defendant agrees to pay the annual real estate taxes on the plaintiff's present home for so long as alimony is due and payable and for so long as she owns the home". Without reciting further from the instrument we think the next-to-last paragraph fully resolves the question before us. That paragraph reads as follows: Affirmed. FOGLEMAN, J., dissents. FOGLEMAN, Justice (dissenting). The majority apparently relies upon the following factors to declare the agreement *664 in this case to be an independent contract and not merged into the decree of divorce: Facts not mentioned in the majority opinion that seem significant and which, taken together with the language of the decree and other facts mentioned in that opinion, seem to me to make the conclusion that the agreement was merged in the decree inescapable, include: While pertinent dates appear in the majority opinion, it is also significant that, even though the suit was at issue for two years before the decree of divorce was rendered, the uncontested decree[1] was rendered one day after the date of the agreement in question. The decision in Bachus v. Bachus, 216 Ark. 802, 227 S.W.2d 439, is not helpful here. The written contract for settlement of property rights, alimony and child support there was not further identified or categorized. The court obviously treated it as an independent contract not merged into the decree so that it was not subject to modification as to alimony. I cannot conceive of a situation in which the parties might go to greater lengths to merge an agreement into a decree than they went here. The agreement is recited in the decree. The caption of the agreement is identical to that which would be given to a pleading filed or decree or order entered in the case, viz: The parties to the agreement are denominated as plaintiff and defendant respectively. The agreement covers every issue that might have otherwise been litigated if the wife established grounds for divorce, i. e., attorney's fees, costs of suit, property division, alimony, child support, adjustment of tax liabilities and restoration of property. Of course, the issue as to grounds for divorce could not have been eliminated by stipulation. Paragraph five relating to alimony was not binding upon the personal representatives of appellant. Provision was made for payments to continue until appellee's remarriage. *665 The enforcement of the contract was not left to the discretion of the court, as in cases where contracts are independent and the court may withhold its extraordinary powers leaving the parties to their other remedies. Any contrary idea is clearly negated by the sentence reading "The terms and provisions of said contract may be enforced by the further orders of this court in the same manner and to like effect as are the judgments and decrees of the court." (Emphasis mine.) An intention to merge the agreement into the court's decree with a reliance upon its enforcement powers rather than upon a retained independent cause of action could hardly be more clearly expressed. When all the pertinent factors are considered, this intention could hardly be more clearly demonstrated. This merger is even more effectively expressed in the closing words of the decree, wherein the court said: It should also be noted that in Wilson v. Wilson, 186 Ark. 415, 53 S.W.2d 990, where the agreement as to alimony was held to be subject to modification, settlement of property rights constituted a part of the agreement. We said that, pursuant to this settlement of property rights, the court decreed that the wife be given the household goods and be paid the sum of $60 per month and that she release and relinquish all her right, title and interest in and to any property of the husband. Not long ago we held that an order to make weekly payments of alimony was decreed by a chancery court's divorce decree reading, in pertinent part: See Thomas v. Thomas, (June 2, 1969), Ark., 443 S.W.2d 534. There the agreement was made to settle, compromise and *666 determine the parties' respective rights, duties and obligations with regard to support, property and financial matters. We relied upon Solomon v. Solomon, 149 Fla. 174, 5 So. 2d 265 (1942). A part of the opinion in that case quoted in Thomas reads: The fact that child support is involved in the agreement is not really significant. The power of the court to modify a decree for child support cannot be defeated by an agreement between the parents, even though the court adopts that agreement. Lively v. Lively, 222 Ark. 501, 261 S.W.2d 409; Collie v. Collie, 242 Ark. 297, 413 S.W.2d 42; Johnston v. Johnston, 241 Ark. 551, 408 S.W.2d 885. Furthermore, we have recognized that a divorced parent's obligation to his child is not necessarily limited to the child's minority. Matthews v. Matthews, 245 Ark. 1, 430 S.W.2d 864; Jerry v. Jerry, 235 Ark. 589, 361 S.W.2d 92. We do not know what circumstances prompted the particular provision as to support and education of this daughter. The provision for alimony for life should not be a significant factor in determining the question involved here. Alimony is normally to be paid during the joint lives of the parties or until the remarriage of the wife, just as the agreement between the parties provides. Birnstill v. Birnstill, 218 Ark. 130, 234 S.W.2d 757; Wear v. Boydstone, 230 Ark. 580, 324 S.W.2d 337. It was said by this court when the rules to be observed by chancellors in these matters were first fixed that alimony should not be allowed for the life of the wife, but only during the joint lives of the parties. Kurtz v. Kurtz, 38 Ark. 119. Soon thereafter it was said that alimony continues only during the joint lives of the parties or until the wife remarries. Brown v. Brown, 38 Ark. 324. After another brief interval it was said that a decree for alimony, where no definite time is fixed during which it is to continue, will cease with the death of either party, or upon relief by the court on the application of the husband after remarriage of the wife. Casteel v. Casteel, 38 Ark. 477. I find no deviation from these declarations in our later cases. The clause making the agreement mutually irrevocable also seems insignificant to me. The very words indicate that the parties cannot retract the agreements made in their stipulation. This does not mean that they were binding on the court. Bachus v. Bachus, 216 Ark. 802, 227 S.W.2d 439; Pryor v. Pryor, 88 Ark. 302, 114 S.W. 700. I do not see how irrevocability of the stipulation by act of the parties could be said to make the payments the subject of enforcement by independent cause of action, or to limit the court's power of modification. I cannot see how my position would in anywise hamper parties desiring to enter into an independent settlement contract in contemplation of divorce so that the wife retains an independent cause of action thereon making it enforceable even if the equity court should withhold its extraordinary power. I am disturbed about the reverse of that proposition, in view of the decision here. My question is, how can a husband and wife enter into a valid and binding stipulation resolving all litigable issues in a divorce case, except the one they are theoretically forbidden to resolve, so that enforcement of the decree and its modification to meet changed conditions will be vested in the court in which the cause is pending, eliminating any possible independent cause of action? Of course, I would reverse the decree. [1] Our emphasis. [1] While the general denial filed by appellant was not withdrawn, no evidence was offered in his behalf. The only witnesses were appellee and her corroborating witness. [2] The authority relied upon was Holmes v. Holmes, 186 Ark. 251, 53 S.W.2d 226. In McCue v. McCue, 210 Ark. 826, 197 S.W.2d 938, it was aptly pointed out that the wording of the Holmes decree on the critical point was "It will be seen * * * that the agreement of the parties was `merely one as to the amount the court by its decree should fix as alimony' and was not intended as an independent agreement for the payment of alimony."