Doritis v. Doritis
Annotate this CaseHusband and wife were divorced in 2012. Several months later, the wife filed a petition for contempt, alleging the husband failed to turn over certain jewelry she claimed should have been divided pursuant to the parties' divorce decree. The husband counterclaimed for contempt, arguing that the wife failed to comply with the decree's parenting and visitation provisions, and failed to reimburse him for repairs to the marital home. The trial court refused to hold either party in contempt. Acknowledging husband's admission that he already had sold some of the items he was supposed to return, the court further ordered that "[i]n the event [husband] is unable to return all pieces of jewelry, but returns selective items, said items shall be appraised by a mutually agreed upon certified appraiser and the amount of the appraisal shall be subtracted from the amount [husband] owes ($40,000) to [wife] for reimbursement of the jewelry." The court also directed the parties to submit a list of disputed expenses for repairs to the marital home. On appeal, the husband argued the trial court's order directing him to return the jewelry and for an accounting of the repairs constituted an improper modification of the parties' divorce decree. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court's decision with regard to the withholding of the husband's share of the net proceeds of the sold jewelry until he returned the jewelry to the wife or provided her adequate compensation: "[a]lthough the trial court had broad authority to enforce and seek compliance with it original decree ... it could not do so by imposing upon husband a pre-condition to hie receipt of the net proceeds that did not exist in the original decree." The Court affirmed the trial court in all other respects.
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