Cutshaw v. Cutshaw

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

THIS OPINION
HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT
IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 239(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

In The Court of Appeals

Charles Ellis Cutshaw,       
Respondent,

v.

Joyce Sinclair Cutshaw,       
Appellant.

Appeal From Chester County

Brooks P. Goldsmith, Family Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2004-UP-269

Submitted March 8, 2004 – Filed April
19, 2004

AFFIRMED 

Coreen B. Khoury, of Lancaster, for Appellant.

Thomas F. McDow, of Rock Hill, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Joyce Sinclair Cutshaw (Wife) appeals the
provision of the family court order placing the valuation on the real property
allotted to Charles Ellis Cutshaw (Husband), and the apportionment of unsecured
martial debt.  We affirm.[1] 

FACTS

The family
court granted Husband and Wife a divorce and issued an order apportioning the
marital property and debt.  All
assets and debt were divided equally except for two parcels of property: 
(1) a house and seventeen acres located in Farmwood Estates and (2) a
house and twelve acres located on Trussel Road. 

Husband and Wife each had independent experts appraise the properties for
the purpose of equitable distribution.  Husband’s
appraiser valued Farmwood at $118,000, while Wife’s appraiser valued it at
$154,000.  Husband’s appraiser
submitted a value of $84,000 on Trussel Road, compared with a valuation of
$98,000 offered by Wife’s appraiser.  The
family court awarded Farmwood to Husband with a 45 percent equity interest
retained by Wife, and awarded Trussel Road to Wife with a 45 percent equity
interest retained by Husband.  For
both parcels, the court accepted the appraised values placed on them by the
appraiser for the party to whom the property was awarded; that is, the court
used Husband’s appraisal for Farmwood and Wife’s appraisal for Trussel Road.
 

Wife appeals the valuation assigned to Husband’s property at Farmwood
and also the distribution of unsecured marital debt, contending it to be
inequitable. 

DISCUSSION

In appeals from the family court, this court may find facts in accordance
with its own view of the preponderance of the evidence.  Miles v. Miles,
355 S.C. 511, 516, 586 S.E.2d 136, 139 (Ct. App. 2003).  However, this broad
scope of review does not require us to disregard the family court’s determinations. 
Id.  Nor do we ignore the fact that the trial judge, who saw and heard
the witnesses, was in a better position to evaluate their credibility and assign
comparative weight to their testimony.  Id. 

I.  Valuation of
Farmwood

Wife claims the family court erred in adopting Husband’s valuation
of Farmwood, arguing the appraisal was too low in light of all the evidence. 
We disagree.

In valuing marital property, the family court may give such weight to expert
testimony as it deems appropriate.  Smith v. Smith, 294 S.C. 194, 200,
363 S.E.2d 404, 408 (Ct. App. 1987).  Therefore, the court may accept one party’s
valuation of marital property over another’s.  Id. at 200-201, 363 S.E.2d
at 4078. 
The family court’s valuation will not be disturbed if it is within the range
of evidence.  Woodward v. Woodward, 294 S.C. 210, 215, 363 S.E.2d 413,
416 (Ct. App. 1987).

Husband’s appraiser testified Farmwood had a value of $118,000 at
the time of trial.  Although Wife’s expert valued the property at $154,000,
we note the same expert valued the property at $120,000 less than two years
earlier when the parties refinanced the property.  We therefore conclude the
valuation assigned to Farmwood was within the range of values supported by the
evidence.  Accordingly, the family court did not err by adopting Husband’s appraisal.

II.  Allocation of Unsecured Marital Debt

Wife argues the family court erred by allocating 50 percent of the
unsecured marital debt to her.  She contends the court abused its discretion
by requiring her to pay an equal share of the debt while only giving her a 45
percent interest in Farmwood.  We disagree.

When apportioning marital debt, the family court must consider the
factors set out in S.C. Code section 20-7-472 (Supp. 2003).  The statute vests the family
court with discretion to decide what weight should be assigned to the various
factors of equitable apportionment.  On review, we look to the fairness of the
overall apportionment; if the end result is equitable, it is irrelevant that
we might have weighed specific factors differently than the family court.  Jenkins
v. Jenkins, 345 S.C. 88, 100, 545 S.E.2d 531, 537 (Ct. App. 2001). 

Wife argues because a portion of the marital debt was incurred to
pay for improvements to Farmwood as well as Husband’s medical bills, the family
court should have made Husband pay a greater share of the debt.  The debt was
not limited to expenses for Husband alone.  Moreover, Wife received an equal
share of the personal property accumulated during the marriage, despite the
fact she earned only 35 percent of the household income.  As such, when considering
the overall distribution, we find no abuse of discretion in the equitable distribution
of marital debt.

AFFIRMED.

HUFF and STILWELL, JJ., and
CURETON, A.J., concur.

[1]

          We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215,
SCACR.