Bailey v. Bailey

Bailey v. Bailey is an unpublished October 2000 opinion from the South Carolina Court of Appeals.  After the appeal briefs had been drafted and filed, Mr. Forman was retained by Mr. Bailey solely to handle oral argument.

Mr. Bailey raised three issues on appeal: 1) whether there was sufficient evidence to award his wife a physical cruelty divorce; 2) whether he had use of and disposed $17,000.00 in cash that was in existence at the time he filed the action; and 3) whether the family court erred in awarding his ex-wife approximately 20% of her attorney’s fees.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the family court’s decision.  It noted that the lower court’s determinations on the first two issues were based, in part, on credibility determinations made in the ex-wife’s favor by the family court.  Such determinations are given great deference by the appellate courts.  The Court of Appeals further found independent evidence to support ex-wife’s positions on these two issues. Because the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision on these two issues, and because ex-husband’s argument was that it was these erroneous determinations that made the fee award improper, the Court of Appeals also affirmed the lower court’s award of attorney’s fees.