Yarbrough v. Yarbrough

184 So.3d 1045

Reba YARBROUGH

v.D. Max YARBROUGH.

2140257.

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama.

June 19, 2015.

Trudie Anne Phillips, Anniston, for appellant.

Adrienne Michele LaBudde, Anniston, for appellee.

MOORE, Judge.

This is the third time Reba Yarbrough ("the wife") and D. Max Yarbrough ("the husband") have been before this court. In Yarbrough v. Yarbrough, 142 So.3d 637 (Ala.Civ.App.2013) ("Yarbrough I "), this court outlined the procedural history of the case as follows:

"On December 13, 2010, the wife filed a complaint for a divorce, asserting that she and the husband had married on December 6, 1996, that no children had been born of the marriage, that the husband had committed acts of adultery, and that the marriage was irretrievably broken. The wife requested that the [Calhoun Circuit Court (‘the trial court’) ] grant her a divorce, equitably divide the marital property, and award her alimony and attorney's fees.

"The husband filed an answer and a counterclaim for a divorce, asserting, among other things, that, on December 2, 1996, the parties had entered into a prenuptial agreement and that it governed the distribution of the parties' property. The husband requested that the trial court grant the parties a divorce based on the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and incompatibility of temperament, ratify and confirm the prenuptial agreement and direct the parties to abide by that agreement, and award the husband attorney's fees pursuant to the prenuptial agreement. The husband attached the prenuptial agreement as an exhibit to his pleading.

"On June 15, 2012, the trial court entered a judgment of divorce. In that judgment, the trial court found, among other things, that the prenuptial agreement was valid and enforceable, that, pursuant to the terms of the prenuptial agreement, the parties had agreed that their marriage would not alter their legal rights to dispose of their separate estates, that the parties had maintained separate checking accounts during the marriage, and that, before and during the marriage, the husband had owned and operated a business known as ‘Max Yarbrough Pools and Construction’ (‘the business').

"Based on those findings, the trial court awarded the husband full right, title, ownership, possession, and control in and to the business, including the name, assets, accounts, investments, and receivables of the business and the inventory, vehicles, supplies, and equipment of the business. It awarded the wife a 2007 Honda Pilot automobile and the husband a 2009 Suzuki motorcycle, a 2007 Winnebago motor home, and red and silver Nissan trucks. Each party was awarded any checking and savings accounts, stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit, or 401k accounts that existed in his or her individual name, and the husband was awarded any such accounts in the name of the business. Both parties were awarded items of personal property and household furnishings pursuant to lists attached to the judgment. Additionally, the wife was instructed to prepare two lists of property from a third exhibit identifying, with certain exceptions, the parties' jointly owned assets and to allow the husband to choose the list representing the items he elected to be awarded. Each party was directed to pay and to be fully responsible for any debts in his or her name, and the husband was directed to be fully responsible for any debts in the name of his business. The trial court required each party to pay his or her own attorney's fees and denied all other requests.

"The wife filed a motion requesting the trial court to reconsider its order, specifically disputing the award of assets acquired during the marriage. Both parties filed letter briefs with the court addressing the wife's motion. The trial court granted the wife's motion insofar as it requested that the Winnebago motor home be sold and the proceeds split equally between the parties; it otherwise denied the wife's motion. On October 24, 2012, the husband filed a motion for clarification regarding asserted errors in the wife's property lists created from the third exhibit to the judgment. Specifically, the husband indicated that numerous items were omitted from the lists, that one item appeared on both lists, and that several items should not have appeared on the lists because they were tools of his business or because he had owned the items before the parties' marriage.

"The wife filed an appeal to this court on November 13, 2012."

142 So.3d at 638–39. This court determined in Yarbrough I that the appeal had been taken from a nonfinal judgment, and we dismissed the appeal. Id. at 639–40.

In Yarbrough v. Yarbrough, 144 So.3d 386 (Ala.Civ.App.2014) ("Yarbrough II "), this court interpreted the parties' prenuptial agreement, determining that the parties had agreed to maintain their rights to their individual estates existing at the time of their marriage and that those individual estates consisted of items listed in exhibits attached to the agreement. 144 So.3d at 391. We then concluded that, in accordance with the prenuptial agreement, those items not listed in the exhibits attached to the agreement that had been acquired during the marriage were "to be treated as jointly owned property to be distributed equally between the parties in the event of the parties' divorce." Id. This court further stated, in pertinent part:

"The trial court correctly modified its judgment in response to the wife's postjudgment motion to order the parties to sell the motor home and to divide the proceeds derived from the sale. With regard to the tractor, the backhoe, and four of the trucks owned by the husband, the trial court determined, based on the husband's testimony and the portion of Exhibit ‘B’ to the prenuptial agreement referring to ‘Construction, Farm and Shop Equipment,’ ‘House,’ ‘Shop,’ ‘John Deere Loader,’ and several named vehicles, that those items remained indivisible as part of the husband's separate estate. The husband admitted, however, that those items had been purchased during the course of the marriage. Thus, they could not have been encompassed by the items listed in Exhibit ‘B,’ [the exhibit representing the husband's property at the time of the parties' marriage]....

"With regard to the remaining vehicles awarded, the wife received the Honda Pilot automobile, which the husband testified was worth approximately $13,000 to $15,000. The husband received a silver truck, which he testified was worth approximately $3,000, a red Nissan truck, which the wife alleged was worth $7,000, and a Suzuki motorcycle, which the husband testified was worth $4,000. The trial court equally divided those vehicles in accordance with the prenuptial agreement. The trial court erred, however, in failing to equally distribute the remaining assets of the parties that had been acquired during the marriage in accordance with ... the prenuptial agreement. See Hubbard [v. Bentley ], 17 So.3d [652] at 654 [ (Ala.Civ.App.2008) ] (‘[T]rial courts may not dispose of property addressed in an antenuptial agreement in a manner that is inconsistent with that agreement.’)."

Id. at 392. We reversed the trial court's judgment and remanded the case to the trial court for it to conduct further proceedings consistent with this court's opinion.

Following this court's remand in Yarbrough II, the trial court entered a judgment on August 29, 2014, that, among other things, ordered that the following items be sold and the proceeds divided equally between the parties: (1) a 2007 Kubota tractor; (2) a 1997 John Deere backhoe; (3) a 2008 Honda Ridgeline vehicle; (4) a 2002 Nissan truck; (5) a 1999 Chevrolet truck; and (6) a 1985 C70 Chevrolet truck. Each of those items had been awarded to the husband in the trial court's original divorce judgment. The trial court noted that, upon the sale of the Honda Ridgeline vehicle, the husband was to be reimbursed from the proceeds of the sale any sums that he had paid toward the loan on the vehicle from the date of the entry of the original divorce judgment until the date of the judgment being entered on remand.

On September 3, 2014, the wife filed a motion to amend the August 29, 2014, judgment. Specifically, the wife asserted, among other things, that the trial court's judgment was inconsistent with this court's remand instructions in Yarbrough II because, she said, it failed to address the following items, which, she asserted, should have also been subject to division by the trial court: (1) a 2008 Jeep Wrangler, (2) a checking account with a value of approximately $139,000, (3) a 650 Burgman motor scooter, and (4) a motorcycle trailer. The wife also asserted that the trial court had erred in ordering that the 2008 Honda Ridgeline vehicle be sold because both parties had testified that the wife would keep the Honda Pilot automobile and that the husband would keep the Honda Ridgeline vehicle. Additionally, the wife asserted that it was unjust and inequitable to order the items sold because, she argued, the value of those items might have diminished since the date of the original divorce judgment. The wife sought an order from the trial court valuing each of the items listed in the trial court's judgment and the additional items identified in the wife's postjudgment motion, with the exception of the 2008 Honda Ridgeline vehicle. The husband filed a response to the wife's motion to amend, in which he agreed with the wife that the trial court had erred in ordering the 2008 Honda Ridgeline to be sold. He asserted, however, that the trial court had not erred in ordering that the additional items of property be sold and the proceeds derived from the sales divided equally between the parties; that the husband's checking account—i.e., the account the wife alleged was valued at approximately $139,000—was not subject to division pursuant to the prenuptial agreement; and that the 2008 Jeep Wrangler should not be sold because it belonged to his son. The wife's postjudgment motion was denied...