Case Name: Evelyn LINDSEY v. Ralph D. LINDSEY
Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 1999-10-28
Citations: 749 So. 2d 77
Docket Number: No. 1998-CA-01197-SCT
Parties: Evelyn LINDSEY v. Ralph D. LINDSEY.
Judges: BANKS, McRAE, SMITH, MILLS AND WALLER, JJ„ CONCUR. COBB, J„ DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY PITTMAN, P.J. SULLIVAN, P.J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 749
Pages: 77–82

Head Matter:
Evelyn LINDSEY v. Ralph D. LINDSEY.
No. 1998-CA-01197-SCT.
Supreme Court of Mississippi.
Oct. 28, 1999.
Len Melvin, Attorney for Appellant.
Robert R. Marshall, Hattiesburg, Attorney for Appellee.

Opinion:
PRATHER, Chief Justice,
for the Court:
STATEMENT OF THE FACTS AND CASE
¶ 1. Ralph D. and Evelyn Lindsey were married in 1981. One child, Desiree Nichole, was born of the marriage. At the time of marriage, Ralph owned a home which he had purchased five years earlier for $11,500. The house was purchased with a fifteen-year mortgage, and Ralph alone made the payments during the first five years of the mortgage. Shortly after the marriage, Ralph deeded the home to himself and his wife, and the couple spent $7,000 on additions to the house during the course of the marriage. Evelyn worked during most of the marriage, and she also contributed to the household work and the rearing of the couple's daughter, Desiree N. Lindsey, born February 3,1983.
¶ 2. Ralph and Evelyn separated in 1996, and on June 29, 1998, the couple was divorced on grounds of irreconcilable differences. The couple worked out an informal property settlement agreement pursuant to which Evelyn took most of the couple's household furnishings and a car in exchange for quitclaiming her interest in the house back to Ralph. At a property division hearing, the Chancellor denied Evelyn's request for alimony, but he awarded her an equitable share in the house in the amount of $ 5,915. Feeling aggrieved as to the Chancellor's equitable division of the marital property, Evelyn timely appealed to this Court.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court was manifestly in error and applied an erroneous legal standard in the division of marital property so that his decision should be reversed.
¶ 3. The sole issue in the present appeal relates to the Chancellor's decision to award Evelyn a lien of $ 5,915 on the couple's house. In equitably dividing the couple's house, the Chancellor expressly (and properly) relied on this Court's decision in Ferguson v. Ferguson, 639 So .2d 921 (Miss.1994). In Ferguson, this Court set forth the following factors for a Chancellor to consider in equitably dividing marital property:
1. Substantial contribution to the accumulation of the property. Factors to be considered in determining contribution are as follows:
a. Direct or indirect economic contribution to the acquisition of the property;
b. Contribution to the stability and harmony of the marital and family relationships as measured by quality, quantity of time spent on family duties and duration of the marriage; and
c. Contribution to the education, training or other accomplishment bearing on the earning power of the spouse accumulating the assets.
2. The degree to which each spouse has expended, withdrawn or otherwise disposed of marital assets and any prior distribution of such assets by agreement, decree or otherwise.
3. The market value and the emotional value of the assets subject to distribution.
4. The value of assets not ordinarily, absent equitable factors to the contrary, subject to such distribution, such as property brought to the marriage by the parties and property acquired by inheritance or inter vivos gift by or to an individual spouse;
5. Tax and other economic consequences, and contractual or legal consequences to third parties, of the proposed distribution;
6. The extent to which property division may, with equity to both parties, be utilized to eliminate periodic payments and other potential sources of future friction between the parties;
7. The needs of the parties for financial security with due regard to the combination of assets, income and earning capacity; and,
8. Any other factor which in equity should be considered.
Ferguson, 639 So.2d at 928. With regard to the first Ferguson factor, the Chancellor noted that Ralph had originally purchased the house in 1976 and that he alone made the mortgage payments during the initial five years of the fifteen-year mortgage. The Chancellor also found that, during the period of the marriage, Ralph had an average annual gross income of $ 24,500, while Evelyn's average annual gross income was only $ 6,000. The Chancellor further noted that Evelyn had not worked during seven of the twenty-two years of the marriage, and he considered these factors significant in determining the parties' respective economic contributions for equitable distribution purposes.
¶ 4. With regard to the second Ferguson factor, the Chancellor found that, at the time of the couple's separation in 1996, Evelyn had taken most of the family's household furnishings pursuant to an informal property division. The parties had agreed that Evelyn would take most of the household furnishings in exchange for Evelyn's conveying her one-half interest in the house to Ralph. Evelyn testified that she took "the car, the 1987 Ford Taurus, and I took some furniture. I took two couches, two chairs, a recliner, my daughter's bedroom set, my son's bed, television, the table and chairs, and some other odds and ends." Evelyn testified that she left Ralph a king-size bed, a recliner, a television, various pots and pans, as well as one non-operational automobile and a truck in working order.
¶ 5. The Chancellor indicated in his ruling that he would not disturb this de facto property settlement as it related to the household furnishings, but he refused to recognize Ralph's claimed ownership of the entire house. Instead, the Chancellor elected to treat the house as marital property, valued at $26,690, and he awarded Evelyn a one-fifth interest in the house. Neither party has contested the Chancellor's finding that the house constitutes marital property, and this issue is accordingly not before this Court on appeal. Nevertheless, it is apparent that, under Ferguson, the Chancellor properly considered Evelyn's retention of most of the couple's household furnishings in equitably distributing the remaining property, including the house.
¶ 6. This Court's decision in Ferguson also lists as a pertinent factor the "needs of the parties for financial security with due regard to the combination of assets, income and earning capacity." In this regard, the Chancellor noted that Ralph is disabled by health problems, including degenerative disk disease, degenerative arthritis of neck and back, bone spurs on his spine, and high blood pressure, and that he was accordingly "unable to earn other income." Based primarily on these considerations, the Chancellor concluded that Evelyn was entitled to an equitable share of the house in the amount of $ 5,915. Evelyn argues that the Chancellor abused his discretion in this regard, but this Court concludes that the Chancellor's ruling was supported by substantial evidence and does not constitute an abuse of discretion.
¶7. The Chancellor's ruling is clearly supported by the fact that Ralph purchased the house himself five years before the couple was married and made the mortgage payments alone during this time. Evelyn acknowledges these payments, but asserts that "any payments made in this time would most likely be interest." Given that the house was purchased with a fifteen-year mortgage, however, it is apparent that the payments during these first five years constituted a significant portion of the principal amount of the loan. Evelyn notes that her brother, who is a carpenter, assisted in the building of an addition to the house, but Ralph testified that he paid for the materials used in building the addition.
¶ 8. Evelyn argues that the Chancellor did not expressly consider each of the Ferguson factors, but it is nevertheless apparent that the Chancellor did consider the most pertinent Ferguson factors, as discussed supra. The record indicates that the Chancellor carefully considered the testimony of the parties in light of Ferguson, and, while this Court might not have arrived at the same decision in the present case, there is no basis for finding an abuse of discretion under the facts herein. The judgment of the Forrest County Chancery Court is affirmed.
¶ 9. AFFIRMED.
BANKS, McRAE, SMITH, MILLS AND WALLER, JJ" CONCUR. COBB, J" DISSENTS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY PITTMAN, P.J. SULLIVAN, P.J., NOT PARTICIPATING.
. Ralph's monthly income from sources of disability social security and pension/retirement totaled $1,454.75. His social security disability payments provided a $260 monthly check to Desiree and an additional similar check to a child of a prior marriage. The child of a prior marriage was nearing majority when that check would terminate and Desiree's portion would increase. Ralph's monthly living expenses were estimated to be $1,992.35.
According to Evelyn's financial disclosure, she earned $1,053.12 monthly and received a $530 social security check, with expenses of $1,381.00. She also had a child from a prior marriage. The chancellor found no justification for alimony and denied Evelyn's request for alimony. There is no issue raised as to this finding; however, it relates to income, assets and earning capacity.
. This Court finds these factors to be the most pertinent within the context of the present case; not as a general matter.