Opinion ID: 1743864
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: whether the ruling issued by the lower court has sufficient factual support and development to allow this court to conduct a meaningful appellate review of the basis for the lower court's ruling in light of the lower court's failure to discuss the ferguson factors.

Text: ¶ 16. Roger argues that the chancellor committed manifest error in failing to make a record of the findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding the equitable distribution of the marital estate. Jo Ann, however, argues that because the chancellor mentioned that he considered the Ferguson factors in his bench ruling, that is sufficient for this Court to perform a review. After careful inspection of the record before us, this Court concludes that the chancellor committed manifest error in failing to make the required record of the findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding the Ferguson factors. ¶ 17. This Court has made it quite clear that chancellors should make findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding equitable distribution of the marital estate part of the record to aid this Court in its review. In Ferguson, the seminal case regarding equitable distribution, this Court stated: Given the development of domestic relations law, this Court recognizes the need for guidelines to aid chancellors in their adjudication of marital property division. Therefore, this Court directs the chancery courts to evaluate the division of marital assets by the following guidelines and to support their decisions with findings of fact and conclusions of law for purposes of appellate review. Ferguson, 639 So.2d at 928 (emphasis added). The Court went on to state in Ferguson that [t]o aid in appellate review, findings of fact by the chancellor, together with the legal conclusions drawn from those findings, are required. Id. at 929 (emphasis added). The Ferguson factors include, but are not limited to: 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. Id. at 928. ¶ 18. The chancellor, in his bench ruling, stated that [i]n making my decisions about the equitable distribution, I have considered all of the factors set forth in Ferguson.  He went on to state that the `equitable division' of a marital estate is left to the sound discretion of the [c]hancellor, keeping in mind, as I said earlier, the Ferguson factors. The chancellor made no mention of the Ferguson factors in his Final Judgment entered December 30, 1998. ¶ 19. The chancellor then ruled that Jo Ann was entitled to a 40% interest in the marital estate. The chancellor made no findings of fact or conclusions of law to support this award of 40% of the marital estate or $114,860. He merely recited the mechanics of how he arrived at that number. Such being the case, this Court has no basis on which to review the chancellor's 40% award to Jo Ann. ¶ 20. This Court has not hesitated to reverse chancellors who fail to apply the Ferguson factors and make the requisite findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by this Court. In Sandlin v. Sandlin, 699 So.2d 1198 (Miss.1997), the chancellor, in making the marital property distribution, mentioned the Ferguson guidelines and represented that he was applying them to the facts of that case. Id. at 1204. However, the chancellor failed to make the requisite findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by Ferguson. This Court held that it could not evaluate the basis that he [the chancellor] used to determine the division of property. Id. Finally this Court ruled that the failure to make findings of fact and conclusions of law was manifest error requiring reversal and remand. Id. ¶ 21. In Kilpatrick v. Kilpatrick, 732 So.2d 876 (Miss.1999), this Court reversed a chancellor for failing to make the required findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding the distribution of the marital estate. Id. at 881. While the chancellor did enumerate the actual property division, the chancellor made no conclusions of law to support the division of the marital estate. Id. at 878-88. This Court reversed and remanded for specific findings of fact stating that [w]ithout findings from the Chancellor concerning this income or use of income, we cannot determine if the distribution of property outlined above meets the standards of equitable distribution required by Ferguson.  Id. at 881. ¶ 22. In the case sub judice, the chancellor, as did the chancellor in Kilpatrick, enumerated the actual property division. In this case, as in Kilpatrick, the chancellor failed to make any conclusions of law as to the Ferguson factors to support the division of the marital estate. As a result of the chancellor's failure to apply the Ferguson factors properly, this Court has no choice but to reverse and remand this action to the trial court.