Opinion ID: 1723507
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: nancy's story

Text: Dwight and Nancy Sandlin met in Coco, Florida in 1981 while he was working at a Gannett-owned newspaper and she worked part-time at the paper to earn money for Christmas. Dwight had a son from a previous marriage who, from all indications, did not live with him. Nancy had two adolescent daughters, Michelle and Sherri. Nancy worked for the Brevard County Board of Commissioners and was enrolled in the Florida State Retirement System. Both Nancy and Dwight owned separate homes. In August, 1982, Dwight was transferred to Gainesville, Georgia. Soon afterwards, the two of them decided to get married, so Nancy quit her job and moved to Gainesville to be with Dwight. Nancy sold her Florida home for a net profit of $4,100. Dwight rented his Florida home out and continues to do so. In December, 1982, Nancy began working for Leon Farmer & Company in Gainesville and enrolled in the company's private retirement system. Dwight and Nancy married in May, 1983, in Lawrenceville, Georgia. According to Nancy, in September, 1983, they bought a home in Gainesville with the proceeds of the sale of Nancy's Florida home. In November, 1984, Dwight was fired from his job with the Gainesville Times and was transferred by Gannett to Arlington, Virginia to work on special projects. This was a temporary assignment, and the company flew him home to Georgia every weekend to be with his family. Nancy remained in Georgia due to the uncertainty of his job status and the fact that Sherri was doing well in school and Nancy did not want to remove her. Michelle did not adjust to life in Georgia and went to live with her grandmother in California. Dwight offered Nancy no support during the time that he lived in Virginia except $35 per month to pay her Shell gasoline bill. Nancy supported herself and her daughter from her income of about $17,000. Meanwhile, Dwight's income was about $50,000. In 1986, Gannett offered Dwight a permanent position in Virginia. The marriage was very tense at that point in time, and Nancy felt that Dwight was not being communicative. In 1986, the couple sold their marital home in Georgia. Nancy mailed the proceeds of $9,000 to Dwight in Arlington. He bought a small house for Nancy and Sherri to live in with $3,000 as down payment. He used the remainder to buy a cabin in Virginia for $75,000. Nancy has always paid the note of $449 on the Georgia home. Nancy filed for a divorce in 1987, feeling that the marriage was a lost cause. When Dwight was served with the divorce papers he did not wish to be divorced, so they reunited. Nancy moved to Virginia in March of 1988, leaving Sherri to live with a friend in Gainesville so that she could graduate with her high school class. Nancy began to work with an electrical contracting company. In October, 1988, Dwight was transferred to Hattiesburg, Mississippi to work for the Hattiesburg American. The couple sold the Virginia cabin for $125,000. They used the proceeds from the sale of the cabin to make the down payment on the marital home in Hattiesburg. Nancy began working for a private duty nursing company and in December, 1989, for Forrest General Hospital. In January, 1991, Dwight resigned under pressure from his position at the Hattiesburg American due to personality differences with the new publisher. He collected six months severance pay. Dwight did not try to find another job for one year, and the household income decreased by $4,000 per month. The renters on both the Florida home and the Georgia home each got three to four months behind on rental payments. Since Nancy's net pay was only $1,300 per month and the mortgages on all three homes was $1,200, the savings were quickly depleted. In February, 1992, Nancy and Dwight bought a commercial print shop in Laurel. Dwight sold $12,000 worth of Gannett stocks issued during the marriage to make the down payment. Nancy signed a note using her income to qualify to assume the SBA loan. On August 12, 1993, Nancy and Dwight separated in Lamar County. Nancy filed for divorce. The temporary hearing allowed both of them to retain possession of the marital home. Nancy claimed that life was unbearable and that Dwight's behavior forced her to move out of the home. He said that he was not moving, but if she wanted this divorce, then she could move. She bought a HUD home for herself and Sherri for $100 down payment, and $307 per month. She and Dwight divided the furniture, then she, Sherri, and Sherri's three year-old son moved out of the marital home. The HUD home is titled in Nancy's name only, whereas the other homes were titled in both her name and Dwight's name.