Hurley v. Hurley
Hurley v. Hurley
Opinion
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *Page 987
Sondra Omes Hurley ("the wife") appeals the trial court's judgment divorcing her from Bradley Glen Hurley ("the husband"), in which the trial court, among other things, awarded the wife child support, divided the parties' property, and awarded the wife alimony; the wife also appeals the trial court's subsequent judgment finding her in contempt for violating certain provisions of the divorce judgment. We reverse the judgment of divorce but affirm the judgment of contempt.
The husband and the wife each filed a complaint seeking a divorce; after an ore tenus hearing, the trial court entered a judgment of divorce on June 13, 2006. The trial court awarded the wife custody of the parties' three minor children and granted the husband "standard" visitation rights. The trial court ordered the husband to pay $1,589 per month in child support; to maintain heath insurance for the children, which costs the husband $420 per month; and to pay one-half of all noncovered medical, dental, or other health-related expenses for the children.
The court divided the marital property by awarding the husband all the parties' interest in three pizza franchises, the former marital residence in Georgia ("the Georgia home"), one vehicle, and certain household items. The court awarded the wife the marital home in Alabama ("the marital residence"), two vehicles, a bank account that contained approximately $18,000, and the majority of the parties' household items. Each party was ordered to assume the debt on the respective residence and vehicles awarded to them. In addition, the trial court ordered the husband to pay the indebtedness owed on all the parties' credit cards. Finally, the trial court ordered the husband to pay the wife $1,000 per month in alimony. The wife timely appealed the divorce judgment.
After the wife had filed her appeal, the husband filed a timely postjudgment motion to alter, amend, or vacate the divorce judgment1 and a motion to hold the wife in contempt for her alleged refusal to pay the indebtedness on the marital residence and on the vehicles awarded to her in the divorce judgment. The husband subsequently amended his contempt motion to allege that the wife had refused to allow him the visitation ordered by the court. After a hearing on the husband's motion, the court found the wife in contempt on both grounds. The wife timely appealed that judgment. The appeals have been consolidated. *Page 988
On appeal, the wife argues that the trial court exceeded its discretion in calculating the child support due, in dividing the parties' property, and by awarding insufficient alimony. She also argues that the trial court exceeded its discretion in finding her in contempt.
We reject the wife's first argument. The income that the husband receives from his operation of the pizza franchises is properly considered self-employment income. See Rule 32(B)(3)(a), Ala. R. Jud. Admin. When a party's income is from self-employment, "the relevant income is [the business's] net income, not the [party's] draw or salary." Brown v.Brown,
The wife correctly asserts that the trial court erred in failing to include the husband's rental income from the Georgia home in its child-support calculation. The husband testified that he rents the Georgia home for $1,300 per month. Rule 32(B)(3)(a) specifically identifies rental income as self-employment income that must be included in calculating child support.2 See also Derie v. Derie,
In the property division, the husband received the Georgia home. He testified that this home is worth approximately $184,000. However, the home is subject to two mortgages with a combined balance of $220,514.96; the trial court ordered the husband to pay the mortgages on the Georgia home. As shown above, the husband is currently receiving $1,300 in gross rental receipts from the home. He testified that he makes mortgage payments of $1,165 per month out of the rental income. The husband also received all the interest *Page 989 in the pizza franchises that the parties had purchased for $1.5 million in July 2005. The parties had made a down payment of $75,000 toward the purchase of those franchises by taking out second mortgages on the marital residence and the Georgia home; they borrowed the rest of the purchase money. There was no evidence presented as to the value of the franchises at the time of the trial. The trial court also awarded the husband one vehicle and ordered the husband to pay the indebtedness owed on that vehicle in the approximate amount of $23,300.15; there was no evidence presented as to the value of the vehicle. The trial court also awarded the husband various household items, which were valued by the husband at approximately $14,600. The trial court ordered the husband to pay the parties' entire credit card debt, which totaled $18,619.01. The husband testified that he had used two of the parties' credit cards, which had combined balances of $6,950.22, primarily for business purposes, but that he also had used them to purchase personal items, e.g., furnishings for his new apartment.
The trial court awarded the wife the marital residence. The evidence at trial showed that the marital residence had been purchased a year before the divorce for $317,000. However, the marital residence was subject to two mortgages, a purchase-money mortgage with a balance of $313,073.18 and a second mortgage used to finance the down payment for the pizza franchises with a balance of $39,502.57. The two mortgages total $352,575.75. There was no evidence presented of the value of the marital residence at the time of the trial. The wife also received a bank account with a balance of $18,000, two vehicles, 3 and the majority of the parties' household items, which the husband valued at approximately $79,770. The trial court ordered the wife to pay the monthly mortgage payments on the marital residence, which amount to $2,057.58 and $592.53 per month, respectively. The trial court also ordered the wife to pay the debt on the vehicles she was awarded; that debt totals $686.47 per month.
According to the husband's calculations, the wife's monthly mortgage payments, vehicle payments, automobile insurance, 4 and household expenses amount to $4,133.95. The wife also incurs monthly expenses of $94.43 for cellular telephones for herself and two of the children; monthly expenses for tutoring, sewing and guitar lessons, and therapy for the children totaling $560; monthly expenses for the children's school lunches in the amount of $94; and entertainment expenses of $54.90 per month. The husband testified that, since the couple's separation, the husband had been paving these expenses and giving the wife $750 every two weeks for food and gasoline. Therefore, based on the husband's calculations, the wife's total monthly expenses amount to $6,562.28.5
The husband calculated his monthly expenses, not including child support and *Page 990 alimony, to be $1,771.82.6 However, this figure does not include the husband's monthly expenses for food and gasoline. He also calculated that, since the couple's separation, he had been spending $9,283.72 per month on himself and the wife and children and that he had taken additional distributions from the pizza franchises to cover the extra expenses.
Based on the many omissions in the evidence regarding (1) the value of the pizza franchises, the value of the marital residence, the value of the husband's vehicle, and the value of one of the vehicles awarded to the wife, see note 3,supra; (2) the husband's expenses for food and gasoline; (3) to whom the "Credit Report Manager" and "MSN Internet" expenses are to be attributed, see note 5,supra; and (4) how the automobile-insurance expenses are to be attributed, see note 4, supra, we are unable to review the trial court's division of property and the award of alimony. Therefore, we reverse the trial court's judgment as to these issues and remand this cause to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
With regard to her failure to pay her mortgage and vehicle payments, the wife argues that she was unable to pay these amounts. "[T]he inability to comply with the trial court's judgment is a valid defense in contempt proceedings." Stammv. Stamm,
As to the visitation issue, the wife argues that she did not interfere with the husband's visitation but that the problems with visitation occurred as a result of problems between the husband and the children. However, the husband testified that, before he was scheduled to exercise his visitation, the wife told him that if he wanted the children he would have to drag *Page 991
them out of the car and that, if he did, someone would call the police. The wife admitted that she made that statement. Accordingly, there was undisputed evidence indicating that the wife deliberately interfered with the court-ordered visitation, and the court acted within its discretion in finding the wife in contempt. See, e.g., Calabrisi v. Boone,
Based on the foregoing, we reverse the trial court's divorce judgment insofar as it divided the parties' property and awarded alimony and child support, and we remand this cause to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. We affirm the trial court's judgment of contempt.
JUDGMENT OF DIVORCE — REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.
JUDGMENT OF CONTEMPT — AFFIRMED.
THOMPSON, P.J., and PITTMAN, BRYAN, and THOMAS, JJ., concur.
In his application for rehearing regarding this court's June 15, 2007, opinion, Bradley Glen Hurley ("the husband") argues that this court should allow the trial court to take additional evidence regarding the omissions in the evidence that this court found to be present in this case. The husband citesCourtright v. Court-right,
APPLICATION OVERRULED.
THOMPSON, P.J., and PITTMAN, BRYAN, and THOMAS, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Sondra Omes Hurley v. Bradley Glen Hurley.
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published