Opinion ID: 1781860
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the court erred by ordering james michael hemsley to pay one-half (1/2) of elizabeth m. hemsley's attorney's fees when elizabeth m. hemsley had a separate estate sufficient to pay her attorney's fees.

Text: In the present case, Bitsy admitted that she had a savings account with a balance in excess of $9,100.00 which she received as her share of the proceeds from the sale of the marital residence. She admitted that she could pay her attorney's fees out of this account. She also has an annual income over $20,000.00. On redirect, Bitsy testified that she owed her father $1,200.00, and that she was going to have to invade her savings in order to repay the loan. As a result, she would only have $7,800.00 to pay her attorney's fee of $5,641.18. If she is forced to pay the entire amount, her savings would be reduced to $2,158.82. Generally the award of attorney's fees in a divorce case is left to the discretion of the trial court. Cheatham v. Cheatham, 537 So.2d 435, 440 (Miss. 1988). See also Holleman v. Holleman, 527 So.2d 90, 95 (Miss. 1988); Carpenter v. Carpenter, 519 So.2d 891, 895 (Miss. 1988); Devereaux, Devereaux, 493 So.2d 1310 (Miss. 1986); McKee v. McKee, 418 So.2d 764, 767 (Miss. 1982). Given the fact that Bitsy's take-home pay and alimony will barely cover her monthly expenses, the chancellor did not err in awarding Bitsy one-half of her attorney's fees.