Hollis v. Hollis
Hollis v. Hollis
Opinion of the Court
We granted the application for discretionary appeal filed by the appellant, Vanessa Hollis, to consider whether the trial court erred by ruling that the parties’ final judgment of divorce awarded one of the parties’ homes to the appellee, Jerry Hollis.
The final judgment of divorce incorporated the parties’ settlement agreement, and that agreement provided that, “[a]s an equitable division of marital property, [Ms. Hollis] shall have and recover exclusive use and possession of the home in which she is currently living.” The agreement also stated that, “[a]s an equitable division of marital property, [Mr. Hollis] shall have and recover exclusive use and possession of any and all properties titled in his name or currently in his possession, including a Honda Goldwing motorcycle, a 1983 Ford F-150 pick up truck, and the home in which he is currently living.” Moreover, the separation agreement stated that the parties “have amicably divided any and all properties between them and that each party shall have and recover exclusive use and possession of and fee simple title to any property which is currently in that party’s possession.”
After the final decree was entered, Mr. Hollis requested that Ms. Hollis transfer to him her interest in the home in which he was living at the time of the decree. Ms. Hollis refused to do so, contending that the parties’ agreement did not sufficiently describe and dispose of the residence, thus leaving each party owning the one-half interest in the residence that they owned before the decree was entered. Mr. Hollis filed a motion to enforce the trial court’s judgment, contending that the language in the agreement and the decree awarded him title to the home in which he was living at the time of the divorce. He sought to have the court enter an order directing Ms. Hollis to transfer her interest in the home to him. The trial court granted Mr. Hollis’s
In interpreting agreements that have been incorporated into divorce decrees, this Court seeks to “find the intent of the parties by looking to the four corners of the agreement and in the light of circumstances as they existed at the time the agreement was made.”
In the present case, looking at the language of the agreement, as well as at the circumstances that existed at the time it was entered, we conclude that the parties intended for title to the home in question to be controlled by the decree. Stated somewhat differently, we conclude that the language of the decree sufficiently describes the property so that title to it is controlled thereby. In this regard, the parties’ agreement in this case refers specifically to two pieces of real property that would be equitably divided — the residence in which Ms. Hollis was living and the residence in which Mr. Hollis was living. Moreover, the record establishes that the parties were well aware of the two separate residences, as, when they entered the agreement in May 2000, they acknowledged that they had been living in a state of separation since 1994 and that each had begun living in his or her own separate residence. In addition, the fact that the agreement specifies that each party would have “fee simple title” to any property “currently’ in his or her “possession,” coupled with the fact that the agreement specifies that each party, as an equitable division of property,
Although Ms. Hollis relies on Newborn v. Clay
For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the trial court did not err in concluding that, under the separation agreement, Mr. Hollis obtained title to the residence in which he was living at the time of the agreement.
Judgment affirmed.
The case did not fall under this Court’s domestic relations pilot project, but Ms. Hollis’s application was reviewed on the merits and granted.
Richardson v. Levitt, 275 Ga. 444, 446 (569 SE2d 534) (2002). Accord. Knott v. Knott, 277 Ga. 380, 381 (589 SE2d 99) (2003); Schwartz v. Schwartz, 275 Ga. 107, 108 (561 SE2d 96) (2002).
Newborn v. Clay, 263 Ga. 622, 623 (436 SE2d 654) (1993). Accord Andrews v. Boykin, 273 Ga. 386, 387-388 (543 SE2d 12) (2001).
An award of property as equitable division has the effect of awarding title to the property. See, e.g., Wagon v. Wagan, 263 Ga. 376, 377-378 (434 SE2d 475) (1993).
263 Ga. at 622-624.
229 Ga. 222, 223 (190 SE2d 539) (1972).
See Newborn, 263 Ga. at 622-623; Boykin, 273 Ga. at 387.
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