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Equitable Unequal Division of Property and Debt
© 2003 National Legal Research Group, Inc.
MISSISSIPPI: McLaurin v. McLaurin, 853 So. 2d 1279 (Miss. Ct. App. 2003).
The trial court did not err in awarding the wife 51.7% of the marital estate. The court did not award the wife 50% of some assets, but its overall division was equitable. The trial court properly gave the husband credit for paying off a truck debt. The parties had agreed that the husband would be liable for the debt, but he had paid the debt off before the agreement was signed.
The parties were divorced on the ground of irreconcilable differences by a decree in which they consented to the chancellor's equitable division of their marital property. The trial court divided the couple's assets, including proceeds from the sale of real property, retirement accounts, and tangible personal property, awarding $302,000 to the wife and $282,000 to the husband. The wife appealed. The court of appeals affirmed.
The equitable division of assets does not require an equal distribution, even where the parties jointly accumulated the property. The chancellor did not abuse his discretion in awarding 51.7% to the wife and 48.3% to the husband.
The wife also argued that the distribution was inequitable because the husband received cash equivalent assets, while she received non-cash equivalent assets, such as furniture. The court of appeals rejected this argument, pointing out that the wife had asked for the furniture and that the husband had also received tangible personal property. Moreover, the bulk of the assets the wife would receive appeared to consist of cash or cash-equivalent assets, including real property sale proceeds, retirement funds, and bank accounts. The court of appeals pointed out that in the division of assets the chancellor is not required to divide every asset in half. The chancellor must only make an equitable division of all the assets. The chancellor's obligation is not to follow some precise formula as to each individual component of distribution (as well as alimony and other support) but to provide equitably between the spouses in the final outcome.
Finally, the wife complained that the chancellor erred in giving the husband credit for a payment on a truck despite the parties' agreement that he be responsible for his truck debt. No error was found. The payment was made prior to the consent agreement, which contained the language that the husband would be liable for the debt on the truck. Both assets and debts acquired during the course of the marriage are subject to equitable distribution. The course of the marriage runs until the date of the divorce judgment for purposes of calculating whether assets are marital or nonmarital, and an asset may be classified as separate if an order for separate maintenance is entered. As the payment herein by the husband preceded the consent divorce agreement, the truck debt was properly considered a marital debt, and any prior payment was properly considered by the chancellor.
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