Court Opinion

ID: 9916675
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-10 15:03:00.692645+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:25:46.346707
License: Public Domain

Cite as 2024 Ark. App. 3
                   ARKANSAS COURT OF APPEALS
                                           DIVISION I
                                          No. CV-22-466

 FREDDIE BRADSHAW                                  Opinion Delivered January 10, 2024
                                APPELLANT
                                                   APPEAL FROM THE DALLAS
                                                   COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
 V.                                                [NO. 20DR-21-27]

 IRENE BRADSHAW                            HONORABLE MARY THOMASON,
                                  APPELLEE JUDGE

                                                   AFFIRMED

                              ROBERT J. GLADWIN, Judge

       This is an appeal of a domestic-relations case involving Freddie Bradshaw (“Freddie”)

and Irene Bradshaw (“Irene”). Freddie appeals both the divorce decree and the order

denying his motion for a new trial entered by the Dallas County Circuit Court. Freddie

argues that the circuit court’s division of property was clearly erroneous and asks this court

to reverse certain provisions of the decree to correct these errors of law. Having considered

the merits of this appeal, we affirm.

                                        I. Background Facts

       Freddie and Irene were married on November 4, 1991, and lived together as husband

and wife until July 3, 2017. On May 13, 2021, Irene filed a complaint for divorce, and

Freddie filed a counterclaim for divorce on the same day. At the time of the divorce, the

only issue in dispute was the division of property. A temporary agreed order was entered on
July 28 that gave Irene the rights to and responsibility for managing and operating Arkansas

Gravel Co., Inc., and gave Freddie the rights to and responsibility for managing and

operating Home Services of Camden, Inc. (“Home Services”). Additionally, after the parties’

separation, they agreed to divide or sell various property of the marital estate and split the

proceeds between them.

       A final divorce hearing was held on August 30 and 31, 2021, and counsel for Irene

announced to the court that the parties had settled some of the property distributions and

read those into the record. Additionally, Irene requested a trial to present evidence of various

items and marital property that she contended had been sold by Freddie. Testimony was

presented regarding the contested debt responsibilities and property division.

       Nicole Zack—Freddie’s girlfriend—was subpoenaed to appear at the final divorce

hearing to produce and permit inspection of certain documentation, including but not

limited to, “all records of any type for all real properties purchased by you, the defendant, or

jointly by both of your for the time period July 3, 2017, to August 3, 2021, including, but

not limited to: deeds, closing statement, mortgages and sources of funds for property

purchased.” On August 30, Ms. Zack appeared at the hearing but failed to provide the

requested documents. The next day she appeared in court and provided documentation for

five properties she had purchased during the relevant time frame stated in the subpoena.

       After the divorce hearing, however, Irene filed a motion for contempt, alleging that

since the final hearing, she discovered Ms. Zack had contracted to purchase approximately

seventy-seven acres in Calhoun County, Arkansas—prior to the final divorce hearing—but

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failed to advise the court of the purchase. As a result, the circuit court held a subsequent

hearing on the contempt motion on October 5. Freddie testified that he had given Ms. Zack

$29,000 as the initial payment for the Calhoun property from the proceeds he had received

from the sale of the parties’ marital residence and that both he and Irene had received

approximately $150,000.

       On November 4, the circuit court entered the decree of divorce. The decree found

the stipulations of the parties to be as follows:

           a. [Irene] will own all interest in Arkansas Gravel Co., Inc.;

           b. [Freddie] will own all interest in Home Services of Camden, Inc.;

           c. [Irene] will pay to [Freddie] the sum of $1.1 million, which represents the
              difference in the values of the two corporations;

           d. The parties agreed they would both refinance their corporate debt within (10)
              months from the date of the Decree and hold the other party harmless. If a
              corporate debt is not paid then that property would be sold to satisfy the debt.
              The party receiving the corporation would receive all proceeds except for
              payments made by the other party to protect his or her credit.

           e. Quality Auto Sales of Hampton, Inc., will be divided 50/50 between the
              parties. The only asset remaining in Quality Auto is its receivables. The parties
              shall collect the receivables and divide equally.

           f. If the parties cannot agree on a distribution of their real estate holdings, then
              the properties will be listed for sale with a real estate agent in a commercial
              and reasonable manner. The parties agreed that the Court would appoint a
              qualified person to perform a market analysis of the properties. Hodnett
              Realty Company was appointed by the Court to determine the values of the
              real estate. The parties were given until November 5, 2021, to divide the real
              estate. Any property not divided by November 5, 2021, will be listed with
              Hodnett Realty Company for sale.

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             g. The market value analysis of the real property by Hodnett Realty Company
                resulted in a bill of $8,225.00. The parties shall each pay one-half of that
                amount to Hodnett Realty Company within thirty (30) days of the Court’s
                Letter Opinion, dated October 21, 2021.

       The decree further ordered that the parties had thirty days to divide all personal

property, and in the event the parties were unable to reach an agreement, the circuit court

would appoint an auctioneer to auction the personal property. The remainder of the decree

set forth the division of the parties’ debt responsibilities and property.

       On November 18, Freddie filed a motion for a new trial, taking issue with certain

findings in the decree—discussed in detail below—and requested that the circuit court

reconsider the alleged errors; amend its findings of fact and conclusions of law; and enter a

corrected judgment. The circuit court denied Freddie’s motion for new trial on December

15, and Freddie timely appealed. This appeal followed.

                                     II. Standard of Review

       Domestic-relations cases are tried de novo on appeal, and the appellate court does

not reverse a circuit court’s finding unless they are clearly erroneous. Taylor v. Taylor, 345

Ark. 300, 47 S.W.3d 222 (2001). A finding is clearly erroneous when, although there is

evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with a definite and

firm conviction that a mistake has been made. Norman v. Norman, 342 Ark. 493, 30 S.W.3d

83 (2000).

       Furthermore, a circuit court has broad powers to distribute property in order to

achieve an equitable distribution. Keathley v. Keathley, 76 Ark. App. 150, 61 S.W.3d 219

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(2001). The overriding purpose of the property-division statute is to enable the court to make

a division of property that is fair and equitable under the circumstances. Id. With respect to

the division of property in a divorce case, we review the circuit court’s findings of fact and

affirm them unless they are clearly erroneous or against the preponderance of the evidence.

Thomas v. Thomas, 68 Ark. App. 196, 4 S.W.3d 517 (1999). In reviewing a circuit court’s

findings, we defer to the court’s superior position to determine the credibility of witnesses

and the weight to be accorded to their testimony. Keathley, supra. This court acknowledges

that the statute does not compel mathematical precision in the distribution of property; it

simply requires that marital property be distributed equitably. Baxley v. Baxley, 86 Ark. App.

200, 167 S.W.3d 158 (2004).

                                      III. Issues on Appeal

       On appeal, Freddie argues the following: (1) the circuit court erred in making

mathematical errors in the decree; (2) the circuit court erred when it ordered Freddie to pay

Irene one-half of the purchase price for the “Zack Properties”; (3) the circuit court abused its

discretion in its division of personal property—overriding the parties’ stipulation that was

incorporated into the decree; and (4) the circuit court erred in ordering Freddie to pay Irene

$56,250 for reimbursement of wages paid to Ms. Zack.

                                         IV. Discussion

                     A. Mathematical Errors in the Decree of Divorce

       For his first point on appeal, Freddie maintains that the circuit court’s findings

regarding the difference in distributions of Home Services—and the resulting sums he was

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ordered to pay Irene—were the result of clear mathematical errors that must be corrected on

appeal. In response, Irene argues that the order of the court results in her receiving the exact

amount of distributions from Home Services as Freddie; thus, the order should be upheld.

                    1. Home Services distributions from January to July 2021

       As stated above, during the pendency of the divorce, the parties agreed that Freddie

would have the rights to and responsibilities for managing and operating Home Services,

and Irene would do the same for Arkansas Gravel Co., Inc. The temporary order held that

neither Freddie nor Irene were to take any owner distributions from either corporation

during the pendency of the order. Furthermore, it was stipulated in the divorce decree that

Irene would pay Freddie $1.1 million, which represented the difference between the values

of the two corporations. Counsel for Irene advised the circuit court that she would present

evidence of marital funds that had already been spent by Freddie and requested that those

expenditures by Freddie offset the $1.1 million she agreed to pay Freddie to account for the

difference in corporation values. In response, Freddie argued that the $1.1 million was

already stipulated to; thus, if there was evidence presented that he owed some amount of

money to Irene, it should not be in the form of an offset but, rather, an amount of money

he owed to Irene. Irene agreed.

       Paragraph 9 of the divorce decree states as follows:

              [Freddie] shall pay to [Irene] the sum of $124,690.00. [Freddie] received the
       sum of $124,690.00 more in distributions from [Home Services] than [Irene] during
       the period of January 2021 to July 31, 2021.

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In support of the court’s ruling, the court cited exhibit 28, which consisted of copies of nine

checks from Home Services payable to Freddie and three cash withdrawal slips totaling

$124,690. Freddie contends that the circuit court committed a clear mathematical error by

ordering him to pay Irene the full sum over and above his distributions, resulting in an

unequal distribution by shifting the imbalance from one party to another. Accordingly,

Freddie argues that the court should have ordered him to pay one-half of the $124,690 to

Irene instead. We disagree.

       When viewing the record and divorce decree as a whole, we cannot find that the

circuit court’s division of property was clearly erroneous. To the contrary, the circuit court

diligently reviewed the evidence and testimony in order to reach a property distribution that

was fair and equitable. Furthermore, the court derived its calculations by a thorough review

of the evidence, including nine checks from Home Services written to Freddie as well as

three pages of deposit and withdrawal slips from Arvest Bank. In conclusion, the circuit

court found that Freddie had received $124,690 more than Irene during the relevant time

period from Home Services; thus, in order to make Irene whole, Freddie was ordered to pay

her the amount that he had received over and above what Irene received. Further, there was

testimony presented by Irene that Freddie accepted checks payable to him individually that

should have been payable to Home Services.

       We simply are not left with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake was made;

thus, the court’s ruling was not arbitrary or groundless. The circuit court was precise and

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detailed in its attempts to equitably divide the property in a complex case. We therefore

affirm on this issue.

                 2. Home Services distributions from January to December 2020

       Similarly, paragraph 10 of the decree states, “[Freddie] shall pay to [Irene] the sum of

$46,854.10 for the difference in distributions from [Home Services] during the period of

January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020.” Accordingly, Freddie argues that the circuit court

committed a second mathematical error.

       The circuit court relied on Irene’s exhibit 6 in making its finding. Exhibit 6 is a four-

page general 2020 ledger of Home Services. The circuit court used this document to calculate

all the deposits and withdrawals from Home Services for both Freddie and Irene for the

2020 calendar year and determined that Freddie had received $46,854.10 more from the

corporation than Irene. This did not amount to shifting the imbalance to Freddie but, rather,

made the distributions equal between the parties. If the court had ordered Freddie to pay

one-half of the $46,854.10, as he suggests, he would still be receiving $23,427.05 more than

Irene, leading to an unequal distribution. Accordingly, for the same reasons as set forth in

the preceding section, we affirm. The circuit court’s ruling was not groundless.

                                     B. Zack Properties

       Ms. Zack purchased five parcels of real property—prior to the final divorce hearing—

that she claimed were either purchased with funds she saved from her previous employment

or with funds given to her by Freddie from the funds Freddie and Irene split by agreement

from the sale of marital property.

                                               8
       Regarding these properties, paragraphs 18 and 19 of the divorce decree state as

follows:

              Properties purchased by Nicole Zack, specifically, 116 Nichols Street, 120
       Nichols Street 151 Continental Drive, and Hickory Hill Drive were purchased with
       marital funds from [Freddie]. It was obvious throughout Ms. Zack’s testimony that
       she was not being honest with the Court. Ms. Zack’s testimony that she used cash she
       had saved was not credible. [Freddie] shall pay to [Irene] one-half of the purchase price
       of the properties.

             [Freddie] shall pay to [Irene] the sum of $14,500.00, representing 1/2 of the
       payments that had been made on the Calhoun County, Arkansas property as of
       August 30, 2021.

                                1. Purchase price vs. funds paid

       First, Freddie argues that the circuit court clearly erred in ordering one-half of the

total purchase price to be paid to Irene as opposed to one-half of the amounts paid toward

the purchase of those properties as of the date of the divorce hearing. This argument lacks

merit because there was no difference between the purchase price and the funds paid on the

majority of the properties; thus, as to those properties, Freddie’s argument is irrelevant.

With regard to the Hickory Hill property, Freddie claims that of the $95,000 purchase price,

only $25,000 was paid; therefore, Irene was entitled to only half of the funds paid, or

$12,500, not half of the full purchase price.

       In response, Irene argues that Freddie’s argument ignores the fact that nearly ten

months had passed from the time the Hickory Hill property was purchased until the final

divorce hearing. Accordingly, she contends the circuit court did not err in taking into

account the monthly payments of $7,000 made with marital funds in addition to the $25,000

                                                9
down payment. We agree. Ms. Zack testified that she entered into an installment contract

on the property with a monthly payment of $7,000. She also testified that the balance on

the Hickory Hill property was $20,000; however, Ms. Zack provided no documentation

evidencing a balance due on the property.

       While the circuit court did not provide an explanation as to why it ordered Freddie

to pay Irene one-half of the total purchase price of Hickory Hill, it held that all four

properties “were purchased with marital funds from [Freddie].” Given that Ms. Zack

admitted she had been paying $7,000 a month on the property for ten months and presented

no evidence that a balance remained on the property—other than her own testimony, which

the court found lacking in credibility—we do not find that the court committed clear error

by ordering Freddie to pay Irene one-half of the purchase price of all four properties. The

down payment of $25,000 plus roughly $70,000 in monthly payments over the course of ten

months amounts to the full purchase price of the Hickory Hill property.

                                 2. Calhoun County property

       After the final divorce hearing, Irene discovered another property that Ms. Zack had

previously purchased in her name but that she did not disclose at the hearing (“the Calhoun

property”). As a result, Irene filed a contempt action on September 28, 2021, and the circuit

court held a hearing on the motion on October 5. At the hearing, both Freddie and Ms.

Zack testified that the funds used to purchase the Calhoun property had come from Freddie.

Freddie asserted that the money he used as the initial down payment on the property had

come from the proceeds he obtained from the agreed upon sale of the marital residence;

                                             10
thus, these funds were nonmarital property. The circuit court held that Freddie was

responsible for paying Irene the sum of $14,5000, representing one-half of the payment

made on the property.

       On appeal, Freddie argues that it was improper and erroneous for the circuit court to

order one-half of this amount to be paid to Irene because he and Ms. Zack both testified at

the contempt hearing that the property was purchased using nonmarital funds. In response,

Irene highlights the fact that Ms. Zack had two opportunities—while on the witness stand

and under a subpoena—to disclose all real estate that had been purchased in her name during

a certain time frame; however, neither Freddie nor Ms. Zack made any mention of the

Calhoun property. Further, she points to the inconsistent statements made by both Freddie

and Ms. Zack on multiple occasions regarding what account was used to fund the purchase

the various properties; and Ms. Zack’s testimony at the final divorce hearing that Freddie

never provided her with the funds to purchase real estate, a statement in direct contradiction

to her testimony at the contempt hearing.

       As detailed above, the circuit court found Ms. Zack’s testimony to be lacking in

credibility, holding that “it was obvious throughout [her] testimony that she was not being

honest with the Court.” Considering the court’s credibility finding—coupled with Freddie’s

and Ms. Zack’s differing responses at the final divorce hearing on who paid for the properties

purchased in Ms. Zack’s name and Ms. Zack’s clear unwillingness to disclose the purchase of

the Calhoun property without being forced to do so—we find that the court’s ruling was not

clearly erroneous.

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                                     C. Personal Property

       Freddie argues that the parties’ stipulation regarding division of personal property—

and paragraph 6 of the divorce decree, which states that if the parties are unable to reach an

agreement, the personal property would be sold—conflicts with paragraph 14 of the decree;

therefore, the circuit court erred in its division of the parties’ personal property.

       Paragraph 14 states, in part, as follows: “[Irene] will receive as her sole and separate

property the jewelry in her possession. [Freddie] shall pay to [Irene] the sum of $85,000 for

her one-half of the value in the jewelry, silver, and coins.” In making this finding the court

held as follows:

               [Freddie]’s last personal financial statement was March, 2021 in which he
       identified a value for guns, jewelry, coins and silver of $350,000.00. [Irene] testified
       that her jewelry was worth $90,000.00. [Freddie], in his deposition, stated he had
       $25,000.00 to $30,000.00 in silver eagles and a few gold coins. The parties both
       testified the guns had minimal value. [Freddie] offered no proof as to how much he
       had in guns, coins and silver, and there is no way for the Court to adequately assess
       the value of the items other than [Freddie]’s financial statement in which he indicated
       the value to be $350,000.00 or $175,000.00 each.

       Freddie contends that because the parties announced an agreement at the final

divorce hearing regarding the distribution of personal property that did not exempt guns,

jewelry, coins, or silver, the circuit court “impermissibly deprived the parties of their benefit

of the bargain under the agreement.” Furthermore, Freddie argues that in reliance on this

agreement, he did not focus his testimony or evidence on the value of the guns, jewelry,

coins, or silver nor did he attempt to refute Irene’s testimony regarding personal property in

her possession or whether any of such property was nonmarital.

                                               12
       This argument lacks merit because it entirely ignores the fact that the two-day trial

was held at Irene’s request to account for the marital money and assets that Irene alleged

were hidden and sold by Freddie and Ms. Zack. Further, paragraphs 6 and 14 are not in

conflict because paragraph 6 accounts for the personal property still in the parties’

possession, and paragraph 14 was included by the court to make Irene whole as a result of

personal property Freddie sold prior to the final divorce hearing.

       In the circuit court’s opinion letter, it specified certain findings related to the parties’

“guns, jewelry, coins, and silver.” In his deposition, Freddie stated that he had $25,000 to

$30,000 in silver eagles and a few gold coins in his possession. At trial, Freddie testified that

Irene had three pieces of jewelry valued at $38,000, $25,000, and $15,000, which was in line

with Irene’s testimony that she had approximately $90,000 in jewelry in her possession.

However, as noted by the circuit court, Freddie’s last personal financial statement in March

2021 identified a value of $350,000 in jewelry, coins, and silver. As noted in Irene’s brief,

the guns, jewelry, coins, and silver had been listed on the parties’ personal financial

statements since at least 2010; and from 2010 to 2021, they had increased in value from

$165,000 to $350,000. Because Freddie did not present any evidence regarding the value of

the items at the final hearing, the court used the value of these items as reflected in the 2021

financial statements and held that Irene was entitled to $85,000 for her one-half of the value

of the items Freddie had in his possession minus the $90,000 in jewelry already in Irene’s

possession.

                                               13
       The court did not abuse its discretion in making this finding. In fact, our review

reveals that the court went to great lengths to reach an equitable distribution. Freddie

testified that most of the personal-property items in question are now gone, and while he

testified at the hearing that he sold most of the silver and coins in 2018, he could not recall

the buyer or the approximate amount he received from the sale. He also acknowledged that

the value of these items continued to be reflected as $350,000 on his personal financial

statements after 2019. The circuit court clearly accorded great weight to Freddie’s personal

financial statement identifying $350,000 in guns, jewelry, coins, and silver, and because the

circuit court is in the superior position to make this decision, we affirm.

                         D. Reimbursement of Wages to Ms. Zack

       The divorce decree ordered Freddie to pay Irene $56,250 as reimbursement for one-

half of the $112,500 that Ms. Zack was paid by Home Services from March 18, 2020, to

August 29, 2021. The court found that Freddie began paying his mistress a weekly salary for

her employment at Home Services on March 18, 2020. Testimony established that Ms.

Zack’s compensation began less than two weeks after Irene received her final check from the

corporation. Ms. Zack described her duties at Home Services as speaking with potential

leads, organizing employee schedules and work schedules, making bank runs, handling

shipments and insurance, and scheduling inspections.

       The court acknowledged Ms. Zack’s testimony that before she was employed at Home

Services, she managed a strip club in Hot Springs. On the basis of the testimony presented,

the court found that Ms. Zack’s qualifications for the job she allegedly performed at Home

                                              14
Services were questionable and noted that Ms. Zack testified she did not know about coding.

Thus, the circuit court held that Freddie was diverting money into his household, which Ms.

Zach and her daughter shared; therefore, Irene was entitled to one-half of the money Freddie

paid to Ms. Zack for her weekly salary from Home Services.

       Freddie argues on appeal that the circuit court’s finding was based on an erroneous

interpretation of Ms. Zack’s testimony; accordingly, the ruling as to reimbursement of Ms.

Zack’s salary should be reversed and remanded with instructions to the circuit court to make

a determination as to the reasonableness of the work performed in order to offset this sum.

Freddie, however, is asking this court to reweigh the evidence and credibility determinations

of the circuit court, which we cannot do. The circuit court found “it was obvious”

throughout Ms. Zack’s testimony that she was not being honest with the court. As we defer

to the circuit court’s superior position to determine the credibility of witnesses and weight

accorded to their testimony, we hold that the circuit court’s finding was not clearly

erroneous. Testimony established that, despite having no prior experience in the field, the

weekly checks to Ms. Zack amounted to more than the weekly checks ever made to Irene or

Freddie. That, coupled with the fact that Ms. Zack’s duties and number of hours worked

were not supported by anything other than her testimony—which the court found to lack

credibility in its entirety—does not leave this court with a definite and firm conviction that a

mistake has been committed.

                                         V. Conclusion

                                              15
       Considering the evidence and being mindful of our standard of review, we find that

the circuit court’s ruling is not clearly erroneous; accordingly, we affirm.

       Affirmed.

       HARRISON, C.J., and HIXSON, J., agree.

       The Applegate Firm, PLLC, by: Ryan J. Applegate, for appellant.

       Nutt Law Firm, PLLC, by: Tiffany Parker Nutt, for appellee.

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