Opinion ID: 1597118
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the lower court erred in failing to equitably divide the property accumulated during the course of marriage

Text: Sharon argues that having contributed to the family income during the marriage, she is entitled to a more equitable division of marital property. She draws our attention to Bill's 1) apparent hiding of cash income from the dental clinic; 2) understatement of assets, by claiming the $64,000 debt to his parents which had apparently been forgiven; 3) executing the deed of trust to his parents on the Lake Lorman property in the amount of $64,000, and 4) incorporating his practice and giving 2/3 of the shares to his parents. She argues that the court should have disregarded the conveyances as fraudulent, engineered for the purpose of decreasing the parties' net worth to her detriment. Bill argues that the deed of Trust executed to his parents on the Lake Lorman property and incorporation of his business, giving two-thirds of the stock to them, was collateralization of their loans to him. Bill characterizes his conduct as prudent, in order to protect himself and his creditor parents. Bill notes that the chancellor made no finding as to whether he had understated his income or not. Bill argues that under the chancellor's division of property, he retains substantial liabilities offsetting his assets, and that Sharon has a positive net worth including $8000 in retirement savings, a car, and household furnishings acquired during the marriage. He further notes that Sharon was not required to assume any costs of child support for Matthew. A financial statement of marital assets at the time of the divorce showed the following assets and debts: Value Debt Home $145,000 $95,000 Lot Lake Lorman 36,000 [] (purchased 9/87) Blazer 5,000 IRA 30,000 Mutual Fund 1,000 Trustmark Savings 2,000 1988 Bass Boat/Motor/Trailer 4,000 (sold for $7000 during divorce) 1980 Aluminum Boat/Motor/Trailer 200 1983 All Terrain Vehicle 500 Guns 1,000 Business Accounts Receivable 19,878 Personal Loan to Corporation 19,017 Rankin County Property 19,144 (Dental Clinic) Mortgage 43,779 Cash Surrender Life Insurance 16,000 Dental Equipment 60,000 Building 180,000 TOTAL ASSETS [] $541,739 TOTAL LIABILITIES $138,779 NET WORTH $402,960 The Chancery Court has authority, where equities so suggest, to order a fair division of property accumulated through joint contribution and efforts of the parties. Flowers v. Flowers, 624 So.2d 992 (Miss. 1993); Brown v. Brown, 574 So.2d 688, 690 (Miss. 1990); Brendel v. Brendel, 566 So.2d 1269, 1273 (Miss. 1990). A spouse is not automatically entitled to an equal division of jointly accumulated property. Brown v. Brown, 574 So.2d at 691; Dillon v. Dillon, 498 So.2d 328, 330 (Miss. 1986). The matter is committed to the discretion and conscience of the chancellor, having in mind all the equities and other relevant facts and circumstances. Jernigan v. Jernigan, 625 So.2d 782 (Miss. 1993); Brown v. Brown, 574 So.2d at 691; Robinson v. Irwin, 546 So.2d 683, 685 (Miss. 1989). The Court seeks equity by reference to the economic contribution made by each to the acquisition and maintenance of the property, and may not disregard a spouse's economic contributions just because they were not monetary in form. Johnson v. Johnson, 550 So.2d 416, 420 (Miss. 1989); Regan v. Regan, 507 So.2d 54, 56 (Miss. 1987); Pickle v. Pickle, 476 So.2d 32, 34 (Miss. 1985). This Court has stated: Services and in kind contributions have an economic value as real as cash contributions. In such situations, where one party to the relationship acts without compensation to perform work or render services to a business enterprise or performs work or services generally regarded as domestic in nature, these are nevertheless economic contributions. They are to be valued by reference to the cost of similar services in the marketplace. Johnson v. Johnson, 550 So.2d at 420 (cites omitted). See also Draper v. Draper, 627 So.2d 302 (Miss. 1993). Bill and Sharon were married for eleven years. For the first eight or nine years of marriage, Sharon did all or the majority of the cooking, cleaning, washing, other housework, and caring for Matthew. In addition to contributing her own salary to the marital assets, Sharon participated in activities which Bill felt would build his practice. At the outset of the marriage, by Bill's admission, the couple had no net worth. At the time of the divorce, the marital assets totalled around $400,000. Sharon was granted $12,500 equity in the house, $8000 in savings, the household furnishings (value unknown) and a car (value unknown). The remaining approximately $380,000 of the jointly acquired marital estate was awarded to Bill. The chancellor evidently did not find Bill's conduct, in transferring the Lake Lorman property to his parents, giving them two-thirds ownership in his practice, and otherwise understating his assets, to be inequitable. [3] We defer to the chancellor's judgment on this issue; absent manifest error, this Court will not reverse a chancellor's findings in cases of domestic relations. Crow v. Crow, 622 So.2d 1226, 1227 (Miss. 1993); McAdory v. McAdory, 608 So.2d 695, 699 (Miss. 1992); Culbreath v. Johnson, 427 So.2d 705, 707 (Miss. 1983). Nevertheless, it is evident from the law cited above that the chancellor ignored or undervalued Sharon's contribution to the jointly accumulated marital assets. It cannot be determined from the record whether, as Sharon suggests, the inequitable distribution of marital assets can be attributed to the chancellor punishing her for her act of adultery. In any event, attention is directed to Lenoir v. Lenoir, 611 So.2d 200 (Miss. 1992), in which a divorce was granted to the husband on grounds of adultery. This Court reversed an award to the husband of all three real properties acquired during the marriage, and remanded for equal distribution of the properties or their value. We stated: Although this Court certainly does not condone June Lenoir's actions, equity demands that she receive her just share ... (a)side from sheer punishment, there is no compelling reason not to partition all three marital properties. This Court is moving away from the harsh effects of punishment in domestic cases towards the just principles of fairness. Lenoir v. Lenoir, 611 So.2d at 204 (Miss. 1992).