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Case Summary: Brown v. Brown, Court of Appeals of Maryland, Decided March 22, 1954

Factual and Procedural Background

Edith Baker Brown (complainant/appellant) sued her husband, Raymond Guynne Brown, Jr. (defendant/appellee), in the Circuit Court for Carroll County for separate maintenance, alimony, custody of the parties' two daughters, an allowance for their support, counsel fees, and an injunction and other security. The bill of complaint was filed on September 14, 1950, asserting that the complainant left the defendant on August 28, 1950 because of extreme cruelty.

Interim orders were entered awarding temporary alimony pendente lite, later reduced. The parties disputed ownership, management, and rents from several parcels of real estate held by them as tenants by the entireties, and complainant sought a receivership and an accounting. The litigation was protracted; the trial court suspended proceedings at one point (an order reversed on first appeal by this Court), and the case was not finally tried until November 1952. On May 29, 1953 the trial court entered a decree granting complainant custody of the children and ordering defendant to pay $50 a week for alimony and child support (with a temporary reduction to $37.50 per week for 36 weeks to reimburse $450 taken from the sale of a bond), and awarded limited counsel fees.

Complainant appealed, raising five objections to the May 29, 1953 decree: (1) the weekly allowance was insufficient; (2) an improper proviso reduced the allowance to reimburse $450 from a bond sale; (3) the court should have appointed a receiver for tenants-by-entireties properties; (4) the court should have ordered an accounting of rents from such properties; and (5) the court should have awarded a more substantial counsel fee. The Court of Appeals considered the appeal and, after analysis, affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for a decree in conformity with its opinion (with costs to appellant).

Legal Issues Presented

  1. Whether the appellant complied with the Court of Appeals' Rules concerning printing of material evidence in the appendix and whether noncompliance warranted dismissal of the appeal.
  2. Whether the trial court's award of $50 a week (reduced to $37.50 for 36 weeks in part) for the wife and two children was sufficient given the husband's true income and financial condition.
  3. Whether the trial court properly imposed a proviso reducing periodic alimony to reimburse $450 obtained by the wife from the sale of a bond.
  4. Whether a receiver should have been appointed to manage properties owned by the parties as tenants by the entireties.
  5. Whether the trial court should have ordered an accounting for rents from properties held as tenants by the entireties.
  6. Whether additional counsel fees should be awarded to the wife's attorneys based on the services rendered over the litigation and appeals.

Arguments of the Parties

Appellant's (Complainant's) Arguments

  • She alleged extreme cruelty by the husband and sought separate maintenance, custody, child support, counsel fees, and injunctive relief.
  • She asserted the husband's income was between $2,000 and $3,000 per month (a significantly higher income than the trial court found) and that the $50 weekly allowance was insufficient to meet her and the children's reasonable needs.
  • She urged appointment of a receiver to manage tenants-by-entireties properties and demanded an accounting of rents collected by the husband.
  • She requested a larger counsel fee for services extending over three years and two appeals.

Appellee's (Defendant's) Arguments

  • He denied cruelty and adultery.
  • He contended that his income was low (at one point asserting about $2,000 per year) and that the trial court's valuation and calculations showing a smaller net income were correct; the trial court had found net income in 1951 of $3,814.38.
  • He argued the properties were acquired with his own money and conveyed to himself and his wife merely for convenience, asserting there was no reason to transfer property or make accounting beyond what the court had considered.
  • He asserted a technical objection that the appellant did not print all testimony in the appendix as required by the Rules of Court of Appeals and did not timely furnish a statement of parts of the record she proposed to print under Rule 39.

Table of Precedents Cited

Precedent Rule or Principle Cited For Application by the Court
Seybolt v. Baber, 203 Md. 20, 97 A.2d 907 Appellate practice: appellant must print all testimony material to issues when the Court must consider all material evidence. Used to emphasize importance of printing all material testimony in the appendix; court examined the appendix and found salient testimony apparently supplied.
Gmurek v. Kajder, 203 Md. 437, 101 A.2d 204 Same principle as Seybolt regarding printing material testimony in appendix. Cited alongside Seybolt to support the rule; court applied the rule in reviewing whether appendix was adequate.
Benner v. Tribbitt, 190 Md. 6, 57 A.2d 346 Procedure: failure to comply with Rule 39 does not automatically mandate dismissal absent a showing of prejudice to the appellee. Applied to decline dismissal of appellant's appeal because appellee did not show prejudice from the appellant's delayed compliance with Rule 39.
Klein v. Dougherty, 200 Md. 22, 87 A.2d 821 Procedure: similar to Benner on non-dismissal when no prejudice is shown from Rule noncompliance. Used to support the Court's decision not to dismiss the appeal for appellant's failure to timely furnish the statement under Rule 39.
Faulkner v. Faulkner, 198 Md. 495, 84 A.2d 884 Substantive family law: there is no precise rule or standard formula for determining alimony; husband's ability and wife's need control. Invoked to state the controlling principle for alimony determinations and to frame the Court's review of the trial court's allowance.
Daiger v. Daiger, 154 Md. 501, 140 A. 717 Appellate review of alimony awards; also used as precedent regarding counsel fees in the appellate context. Cited to support the Court's authority to review alimony amounts and later cited by analogy in determining reasonable counsel fees (comparing fees awarded in prior case).
Westphal v. Westphal, 132 Md. 330, 103 A. 846 Standard of review: an alimony award should not be disturbed unless chancellor's discretion was arbitrarily used. Cited as one of several authorities defining the standard under which the Court should review the trial court's exercise of discretion.
Wygodsky v. Wygodsky, 134 Md. 344, 106 A. 698 Same principle as Westphal regarding review of chancellor's discretion in alimony awards. Used with other cases to state the deferential standard to the trial court's discretionary alimony determinations.
Fairbank v. Fairbank, 169 Md. 212, 181 A. 233 Another authority establishing deferential appellate review of alimony awards. Included among authorities supporting the standard for disturbing alimony awards only for clear error or arbitrary discretion.
Mariani v. Mariani, 189 Md. 283, 55 A.2d 713 Also cited for the same standard of appellate review of alimony awards. Used as supporting precedent for not disturbing trial court awards absent clear error.
Winkel v. Winkel, 178 Md. 489, 15 A.2d 914 Alimony is subject to variation from time to time as circumstances change. Cited to support the Court's statement that alimony awards may be adjusted if subsequent records show different circumstances.
Safe Deposit Trust Co. of Baltimore v. Robertson, 192 Md. 653, 65 A.2d 292 Same principle as Winkel: alimony subject to later variation depending on changed circumstances. Used among authorities to justify that the amount ordered could be modified if later records warranted reduction.
Sugarman v. Sugarman, 197 Md. 182, 78 A.2d 456 Also cited for the principle that alimony may be varied as circumstances change. Included as authority supporting potential variation of alimony awards.
Hall v. Hall, 180 Md. 353, 24 A.2d 415 Equity courts in separate maintenance suits have no power (absent statute) to transfer property or otherwise adjust property rights of spouses. Applied to reaffirm that the Court must base alimony on need and ability without attempting to adjust property rights in a separate maintenance suit.
Brown v. Brown, 199 Md. 585, 87 A.2d 626 (prior appeal in this litigation) Held that a court of equity has no power in separate maintenance to adjust property rights (confirming Hall); the earlier reversal concerned suspension of proceedings until return of property. Cited as the Court's earlier decision reversing the trial court's suspension order and as authority for the proposition that property adjustment is not available in separate maintenance proceedings.
Hagerstown Furniture Co. v. Baker, 155 Md. 549, 142 A. 885 Explains object of receivership and discretionary appointment by equity courts. Used to state the limited purposes of receivership and the caution required in appointing receivers.
Williams v. Salisbury Ice Co., 176 Md. 13, 3 A.2d 507 Affirms discretionary nature of appointment of a receiver in equity and confines appointment to prevent loss or deterioration. Cited to support the Court's description of receivership power as discretionary and to justify caution in its exercise.
Whitelock v. Whitelock, 156 Md. 115, 143 A. 712 Wife shares equally in income from property held by husband and wife as tenants by the entireties. Used to state the legal entitlement that the wife is entitled to one-half the net income from entireties property; Court ordered one-half net income to be paid accounting from May 29, 1953.
Collier v. Collier, 182 Md. 82, 32 A.2d 469 Same principle: equal sharing of income from tenants by the entireties property. Cited with Whitelock to establish the rule that supports awarding one-half of net income from entireties property to the wife.
Elko v. Elko, 187 Md. 161, 49 A.2d 441 Also supports the rule that wife shares in income from property held by entireties. Cited as additional authority for the entitlement to share of net income from entireties property.
Keen v. Keen, 191 Md. 31, 60 A.2d 200 A court of equity may appoint a receiver when necessary to manage real property owned by husband and wife as tenants by the entireties. Cited to acknowledge the Court's power to appoint a receiver for entireties property, though the Court declined to do so on the facts here.
Masterman v. Masterman, 129 Md. 167, 98 A. 537 Example where receiver was appropriate to protect property from loss or deterioration when one spouse refused to allow insurance funds to be used to repair property. Referenced as a case in which appointment of a receiver was appropriate; contrasted with the present case where the chancellor found a receivership unnecessary.
Berman v. Leckner, 193 Md. 177, 66 A.2d 392 Appellate standard: do not reverse equity court's findings of fact unless clearly unsupported by the weight of evidence. Applied to decline reversing the trial court's refusal to appoint a receiver given conflicting testimony.
Kolker v. Biggs, 203 Md. 137, 99 A.2d 743 Same principle as Berman on deference to trial court fact-finding in equity cases. Used with Berman to support the Court's refusal to overturn the chancellor's factual determinations about managing the properties.
Timanus v. Timanus, 178 Md. 640, 16 A.2d 918 Court should avoid alimony awards so excessive they oppress the husband, but wife should not suffer from husband's extravagance. Invoked to balance considerations: ensure alimony not oppressive yet allow relief when wife is suffering due to husband's lifestyle; supported the Court's decision to increase the allowance.
France v. Safe Deposit Trust Co., 176 Md. 306, 4 A.2d 717 Counsel fees in divorce/separate maintenance: fee cannot be based solely on husband's ability to pay, but the husband's resources are relevant to the reasonableness of a fee. Cited to justify considering the husband's financial resources in awarding additional counsel fees to the wife's attorneys.
Waters v. Waters, 191 Md. 436, 62 A.2d 250 Similar principle regarding counsel fees and consideration of financial resources and reasonable value of services. Used to support the award of an additional counsel fee to compensate services over three years and appeals.

Court's Reasoning and Analysis

The Court's analysis proceeded in distinct thematic steps, each grounded in evidence presented and established legal principles:

  1. Appendix and Procedural Compliance:

    The Court reviewed appellant's compliance with Rules 36 and 39 concerning what must be printed in the appendix. It reiterated authority that an appellant must print all testimony material to issues when the Court must consider that evidence (citing Seybolt and Gmurek). Although appellant printed only 70 pages of testimony and did not timely furnish defendant with a statement of the parts of the record she proposed to print as required by Rule 39, the transcript included a 25-page opinion of the trial court that recapitulated and discussed all testimony. Because appellee did not show where contradictory testimony had been omitted or that he was prejudiced by the late statement, the Court declined to dismiss the appeal, citing Benner and Klein.

  2. Alimony Determination:

    The Court reiterated the governing principle that there is no precise formula for alimony; the husband's ability to pay and the wife's need are controlling and the trial court has broad discretion (citing Faulkner and other cases). The Court found the trial court's record and accounts incomplete and complicated but concluded the husband's wealth and income warranted a larger award than that ordered by the trial court.

    The opinion reviews how the trial court valued defendant's assets (store business and real estate, pinball and music box business, loans, vehicle, bank funds) and then subtracted liabilities (notes/accounts payable, bad debts, claimed income taxes) to reach a small net worth. The Court criticized the trial court's acceptance of a $46,600 tax claim as a liability that materially reduced net worth absent full contest resolution, and questioned certain of defendant's deductions.

    A central factual dispute concerned depreciation of amusement devices (pinball machines and music boxes). The trial court relied on the brother's statement that standard IRS depreciation (two and three years) had been used for tax returns; experts and other testimony suggested longer useful lives (e.g., five years for pinball machines and ten for music boxes). Using lower annual depreciation figures (estimating total depreciation of pinball/music boxes at not more than $20,000 and motor-vehicle depreciation about $1,000), the Court calculated defendant's net income for 1951 as $41,773.24 rather than the trial court's finding of $3,814.38.

    Based on the Court's view of income and the wife's demonstrated needs (testimony she and her children required over $100 per week for necessities and her depletion of savings and reliance on family loans), the Court concluded that defendant should be ordered to pay $100 per week for maintenance of his wife and children, accounting from the date the decree granting separate maintenance was entered (May 29, 1953). The Court qualified this by directing that if more complete records later showed the income did not justify that allowance, it should be reduced, reflecting the view that alimony is subject to variation.

  3. Proviso Reducing Allowance to Reimburse $450:

    The Court reaffirmed the rule that in separate maintenance proceedings an equity court has no statutory power to transfer property or otherwise adjust property rights (citing Hall and the prior Brown decision). Therefore the decree should make alimony awards based on need and ability without attempting to adjust property rights. This reasoning underlies the Court's position that the proviso reducing weekly alimony for repayment of $450 (from a bond sale) was improper.

  4. Receivership and Management of Entireties Property:

    The Court described the object and discretionary nature of receivership in equity, citing authorities that the power should be used with great caution and only when fraud, spoliation, or imminent danger of loss is shown. The Court acknowledged precedent that a receiver may be appointed to manage entireties property (Whitelock et al.; Keen; and Masterman as an example where a receiver was appropriate).

    Applying that standard to the present facts, the Court noted conflicting testimony about the rents that certain properties could command and that some witnesses saw no unreasonable rents. The chancellor, who observed witnesses, concluded a receivership was not in the parties' best interests and would impose heavy expense. Because the testimony was conflicting and factfinding lies with the trial court unless clearly unsupported, the Court refused to order appointment of a receiver.

  5. Accounting for Entireties Rents:

    The Court observed that while a wife is entitled to share equally in net income from entireties property, in this case the defendant had disclosed the income derived from all properties (individual and entireties) and asserted he made no separate charge for management. The Court determined that ordering an accounting in the protracted three-year litigation would not serve a useful purpose under the circumstances, but nonetheless ordered that defendant pay one-half of the net income from property held as tenants by the entireties accounting from May 29, 1953.

  6. Counsel Fee:

    The Court considered counsel fee principles: fees cannot be based solely on husband's wealth, yet his financial resources are relevant to the reasonableness of a fee. The trial court had allowed $600 for appellate services and $100 at the institution of the suit, but no other fee for services in the trial court over three years. Based on the services rendered (three years of work and two appeals) and the Court's estimation of defendant's income, the Court awarded an additional fee of $1,000 to compensate the wife's attorneys for services in the trial court.

Holding and Implications

Holding: The Court of Appeals affirmed the decree in part and reversed it in part, and remanded the case for entry of a decree conforming to the Court's opinion (with costs to appellant).

Direct consequences and instructions to the trial court (as stated by the Court of Appeals):

  • Order defendant to pay $100 per week for maintenance of his wife and children, accounting from May 29, 1953 (subject to later reduction if more complete records show the income does not justify the allowance).
  • Order defendant to pay complainant one-half of the net income from properties held by them as tenants by the entireties, accounting from May 29, 1953.
  • Do not order a receivership on the present record; the trial court's refusal to appoint a receiver was not reversed because its factual conclusion was supported by conflicting testimony.
  • Decline to require an accounting of rents beyond awarding one-half of net income from entireties properties, because the defendant had disclosed incomes and asserted no management charges.
  • Award an additional counsel fee of $1,000 to the wife's attorneys for services in the trial court over the three-year period (in addition to amounts previously allowed for appeals and initial fee).

Broader implications: The opinion reaffirmed established principles on appellate procedure (appendix requirements), the discretionary nature of alimony awards and their review, the limited power of equity courts in separate maintenance suits to adjust property rights absent statute, the cautious and discretionary use of receiverships, entitlement to one-half net income from tenants-by-entireties property, and the relevance of a husband's financial resources in assessing counsel fees. The Court did not purport to establish a new broad rule of law beyond applying these principles to the facts of this case.

BROWN v. BROWN

APPEAL — Appellant's Appendix — Printing of All Material Evidence. Where the Court of Appeals must consider all material evidence in order to decide the questions raised by the appellant, the appellant may not print in the appendix to his brief only those portions of the testimony which he considers favorable to himself, but he must print all testimony that the Court has to have before it to decide such questions. Rules of Court of Appeals (1953 Ed.), Rule 39. p. 205

APPEAL — Dismissal of, Denied — No Showing of Prejudice to Appellee by Appellant's Failure to Comply with Rules. Where appellant, appealing from a decree passed in her suit for separate maintenance, printed in the appendix to her brief 70 pages of testimony and the opinion of the trial court, which covered 25 pages and completely recapitulated and discussed all of the testimony in the case, but did not furnish appellee, her husband, with a statement of the parts of the record she proposed to print within the time prescribed by Rule 39 of the Rules of Court of Appeals (1953 Ed.), as she should have done, her appeal was not dismissed. Appellee had not shown where any contradictory testimony had been omitted in her appendix, and there was no showing that he had been prejudiced by her delay in complying with Rule 39. p. 205

DIVORCE — or Separate Maintenance Suit — Determining Amount of Alimony — Review of Determination. In determining an award of alimony or support, there is no precise rule or standard formula. The ability of the husband to provide support and the wife's need for it are controlling factors. The amount to be allowed in a suit for divorce or separate maintenance is governed by all the circumstances of each case, and is in the sound discretion of the court. The Court of Appeals has the right to review the amount of alimony allowed, but the award should not be disturbed unless the chancellor's discretion was arbitrarily used and his judgment was clearly wrong. p. 206

DIVORCE — Separate Maintenance Suit — Award to Wife for Support of Herself and Children Insufficient. Where, in a wife's suit for separate maintenance for her two daughters and herself, it was determined that the husband's net income was $41,773.24 during the last year for which his records were complete, rather than $3,814.38, as the lower court had found, an allowance to the wife for herself and the children of $50.00 a week, reduced to $37.50 a week for 36 weeks, was insufficient, and the husband should have been ordered to pay at the rate of $100.00 a week for the maintenance of his wife and children, accounting from the date that the decree allowing the wife separate maintenance was entered. pp. 206-209

DIVORCE — Separate Maintenance Suit — Wife Entitled to Half of Net Income from Properties Held with Husband by Entireties — Receivership. In a wife's suit for separate maintenance for her children and herself, the failure of the trial court to order the husband to pay to the wife one-half of the net income from properties held by them as tenants by the entireties, accounting from the date of the passage of the decree below, was improper, even though the husband claimed that he bought the properties entirely with his own money, and that they were conveyed to him and his wife merely for convenience. A court of equity may appoint a receiver when necessary to manage real property owned by a husband and wife as tenants by the entireties. pp. 209-211

DIVORCE — Alimony — Subject to Variation. The amount of alimony to be awarded a wife is subject to variation from time to time as the circumstances, needs and pecuniary conditions of the parties change. p. 209

DIVORCE — Alimony — Whether Oppressive to Husband. The court should not make an award of alimony so excessive as to oppress or dishearten the husband, but the wife should not be made to suffer in loss of maintenance on account of her husband's extravagance. pp. 209-210

DIVORCE — or Separate Maintenance Suit — Power of Equity Court to Transfer Property from One Spouse to Other — None in Absence of Statute. A court of equity in a divorce or separate maintenance suit has no power, unless expressly conferred by statute, to transfer the property of either spouse to the other or otherwise dispose of it. Such a power has been conferred in cases of divorce, but not in cases of separate maintenance. Code (1951), Art. 16, § 38. p. 210

RECEIVERS — Object of Proceeding. The object of a receivership is to preserve an estate intact, to keep it within the jurisdiction of the court, and to prevent waste, spoliation or deterioration pending its appropriation as may be directed by final decree. pp. 210-211

RECEIVERS — Appointment of — Discretionary with Equity Court — Exercise of Discretion. The power of a court of equity to appoint a receiver is a discretionary one exercised in aid of its jurisdiction to enable it to accomplish as far as possible complete justice between the parties before it. It should be exercised with great caution, and if it does not clearly appear that there is fraud, spoliation or imminent danger of the loss of the property unless immediate possession is taken by the court, a receivership should not be ordered. p. 211

DIVORCE — Separate Maintenance Suit — Property Held by Parties as Tenants by Entireties — Appointment of Receiver to Manage, Properly Refused. In a wife's suit for separate maintenance, in which she alleged that her husband had been collecting the rents from properties held by the parties as tenants by the entireties, but that he had not managed them in such a way as to produce a fair and proper income, the failure of the chancellor, at the instance of the wife, to appoint a receiver to manage the properties and collect the rents therefrom was not improper, as the evidence was conflicting as to whether the properties were producing a reasonable rental figure. The chancellor concluded that it was not for the best interests of the parties to subject them to the heavy expense of a receivership, and this Court will not reverse a decision of a court of equity upon a finding of facts unless it is clearly apparent that the finding is not supported by the weight of the evidence. pp. 210-212

DIVORCE — Separate Maintenance Suit — Accounting for Properties Held as Tenants by Entireties — Wife Not Entitled to. A wife, who sued her husband for separate maintenance, was not entitled to an accounting in the proceeding for rents collected from properties owned by her husband and herself as tenants by the entireties, where the husband disclosed the income derived from all of the properties he owned individually and all those he and his wife owned as tenants by the entireties, and where he asserted that he had made no charge for managing the properties or for collecting the rents. pp. 212-213

DIVORCE — or Separate Maintenance Suit — Counsel Fee — Financial Resources of Husband. While the counsel fee to be allowed by the court in a divorce or separate maintenance suit cannot be based upon the financial ability of the husband yet the amount of the fee cannot be wholly dissociated from his financial resources, as the fair value of the attorney's services, according to the ordinary factors of labor, skill, time and benefit, may result in a fee which would be trivial to one client and a crushing burden to another. p. 213

DIVORCE — Separate Maintenance Suit — Additional Fee Awarded Wife's Attorneys. Where the services rendered by a wife's attorneys in her suit for separate maintenance extended over a period of three years, and included the prosecution of two appeals in this Court, for which the attorneys were awarded $600 by the lower court, as well as $100 at the time the suit instituted, this Court, which determined that the husband's net income for one year was $41,773.24, allowed an additional fee of $1,000 to compensate for the services rendered over the three-year period in the court below. pp. 213-214 J.E.B.

Decided March 22, 1954.

DELAPLAINE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court.

This is the second appeal brought here by Edith Baker Brown from the Circuit Court for Carroll County in her suit for separate maintenance against her husband, Raymond Guynne Brown, Jr.

The parties were married in Washington in May, 1933. They lived together in Carroll County for 17 years and have two daughters. Defendant owns and operates a lunch and soda fountain business in Ridgeville and also has an extensive business in the operation of pinball machines and music boxes. In the bill of complaint filed on September 14, 1950, complainant alleged that on August 28, 1950, she left her husband on account of his extreme cruelty and went with her two daughters to the home of her parents. She prayed the Court to award alimony, custody of the children and an allowance for their support, counsel fee for her attorneys, and an injunction and other security.

Complainant alleged that her husband's income was between $2,000 and $3,000 a month. The Court thereupon passed an order nisi requiring defendant to pay complainant $75 a week as alimony pendente lite and for the support of the children, and to pay complainant's attorneys a counsel fee of $100. On November 14, 1950, after defendant claimed that his income was about $2,000 a year, the Court reduced the award to $37.50 a week, accounting from September 14, 1950.

On January 12, 1951, defendant filed a petition alleging that in December, 1950, his wife had entered his store and apartment and had taken some money, bonds, and bank books, and praying the Court to order her to return them. Complainant answered that she took some clothing that belonged to her and the children, and also "certain sums of money and property which belonged to her or in which she had some right of ownership."

In April, 1951, complainant filed an amended bill of complaint alleging that her husband had committed adultery on numerous occasions. She further alleged therein that she and her husband owned as tenants by the entireties a number of parcels of real estate in Carroll and Frederick Counties, and that her husband, who had been collecting the rents therefrom, had not been managing them in such a way as to produce fair and proper income, and also had failed to render an accounting to her. She prayed the Court to appoint a receiver to manage the properties and to collect the rents, and also to order her husband to render an accounting of the rents which he had collected.

Defendant, in his answer to the amended bill, denied that he was guilty of cruelty and adultery. He then answered that he bought the properties entirely with his own money, and that they were conveyed to him and his wife merely for convenience. He further answered that he was managing the properties in the same way in which he had always managed them, and that no loss had been occasioned by his management. He further answered that the Court considered the income from the properties in fixing the amount of alimony pendente lite, and, since he had complied with the orders of the Court, there was no reason for an accounting.

Complainant urged the Court to set the case for trial; but on September 24, 1951, more than a year after the institution of suit, the Court passed an order suspending further proceedings until complainant returned the property she had taken in December, 1950. Complainant's first appeal was from that order. On April 2, 1952, the Court of Appeals, in an opinion by Judge Collins, reversed the order on the ground that a court of equity in an action for divorce or separate maintenance has no power, unless conferred by statute, to adjust the property rights of the parties. Brown v. Brown, 199 Md. 585, 87 A.2d 626, 629.

Following the decision on that appeal, complainant again urged the Court to set the case for trial. But the Court again gave consideration to defendant's petition, and it was not until November, 1952, that the Court proceeded to the trial of the case.

Complainant, who was then living in a three-room apartment in Mount Airy, was 36 years old. The elder daughter, age 18, had become a student nurse in the Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore. The other daughter, age 13, was attending the public school in Mount Airy. Complainant testified that her husband struck her violently on a number of occasions. She testified that when she suggested in February, 1950, after her return from a hospital in Washington, that they ought to plan for a home, he became so enraged that he struck her on the chest, knocked her into the dining room, and bruised her spine. The climax came on the evening of August 28, 1950, when she returned home from the Carnival with her younger daughter. Her husband was waiting for her in the doorway, and he told her that she could not come in. She testified that he struck her and knocked her into the road. It was then that she took refuge with her daughters in the home of her parents.

Finally, on May 29, 1953, more than two years and eight months after the institution of suit, the Court reached the decision that complainant had established her right to separate maintenance. The Court thereupon entered a decree granting the custody of the children to complainant, and ordering defendant to pay her $50 a week as alimony and for the support of the children.

Complainant raised five objections to the decree: (1) that the allowance of $50 a week for herself and the children is insufficient; (2) that it cut the allowance to $37.50 a week for 36 weeks in order to reimburse defendant for the sum of $450 which she received from the sale of a bond; (3) that it failed to order a receivership; (4) that it failed to order an accounting; and (5) that it failed to order defendant to pay a counsel fee to her attorneys.

At the outset defendant made the technical objection that complainant did not print all of the testimony in the appendix to her brief, as required by the Rules of the Court of Appeals, but printed only certain parts of it and made calculations therefrom favorable to herself.

Rule 36 provides: "Unless ordered by this Court, it shall not be necessary to print the record on appeal, except that the appellant shall print as a part of the appendix to his brief the judgment, decree or order appealed from, together with any opinion or charge of the Court."

Rule 39 directs that the appendix to the appellant's brief shall also contain "such parts of the record as he desires the Court to read."

We have repeatedly emphasized the importance of printing all of the testimony material to the issue. Where the Court of Appeals must consider all material evidence in order to decide the questions raised by the appellant, the appellant may not print in the appendix to his brief only those portions of the testimony which he considers favorable to himself, but he must print all testimony that the Court has to have before it to decide such questions. Seybolt v. Baber, 203 Md. 20, 25-26, 97 A.2d 907, 909; Gmurek v. Kajder, 203 Md. 437, 101 A.2d 204.

On this appeal the appendix to appellant's brief contains 70 pages of testimony, and also the opinion of the Court, which covers 25 pages and completely recapitulates and discusses all of the testimony produced in the case. Defendant did not indicate where any contradictory testimony had been omitted. Apparently the appendix supplies the salient testimony for an understanding of the case.

Defendant also made the objection that complainant did not furnish him with a statement of the parts of the record she proposed to print within the time prescribed by the Rules of the Court of Appeals. Rule 39 provides: "The appellant, within ten days after the filing of the transcript of the record in this Court, shall furnish the appellee or his counsel with a statement of the parts of the record he proposes to print with his brief."

Complainant should have complied with our rule by furnishing defendant with a statement of the parts of the record she proposed to print within ten days after the filing of the transcript in the Court of Appeals. However, as it has not been shown that defendant was prejudiced by her delay, we will not dismiss her appeal. Benner v. Tribbitt, 190 Md. 6, 57 A.2d 346; Klein v. Dougherty, 200 Md. 22, 25, 87 A.2d 821.

First. We consider complainant's contention that the Court should have awarded her a larger allowance for herself and her children. In determining an award of alimony or support, the court has no precise rule or standard formula. Faulkner v. Faulkner, 198 Md. 495, 84 A.2d 884. The ability of the husband to provide support and the wife's need for it are controlling factors. The amount to be allowed in a suit for divorce or separate maintenance is governed by all the circumstances of each case, and is in the sound discretion of the court. The Court of Appeals has the right to review the amount of alimony allowed. Daiger v. Daiger, 154 Md. 501, 508, 140 A. 717. However, the award should not be disturbed unless the chancellor's discretion was arbitrarily used and his judgment was clearly wrong. Westphal v. Westphal, 132 Md. 330, 334, 103 A. 846; Wygodsky v. Wygodsky, 134 Md. 344, 106 A. 698; Fairbank v. Fairbank, 169 Md. 212, 217, 181 A. 233; Mariani v. Mariani, 189 Md. 283, 289, 55 A.2d 713.

In the case before us the records are so incomplete and the accounts so complicated that it is difficult to determine with certainty either the exact extent of defendant's wealth or his exact income. We are convinced, however, that his wealth and income warrant a larger award to complainant.

The Court placed a valuation of $15,050 on defendant's store business and real estate, and $70,000 on his pinball and music box business. The Court then listed the following assets: loans, $7,000; mortgage, $2,700; automobile and motor trucks, $3,469.25; money in bank, $3,791.21. These assets aggregated $102,010.46.

The Court then subtracted the following amounts: notes and accounts payable, $37,111.84; bad debts, $2,500; income taxes due for 1944, 1945 and 1946, $46,600. As these amounts totaled $86,211.84, the Court concluded that defendant was worth only $15,798.62.

It appeared that defendant had retained an attorney specializing in income taxation to contest the Government's claim for $46,600 for income taxes, but the Court accepted the full amount of the claim as one of defendant's liabilities, thus materially reducing defendant's net worth and income. On the other hand, when defendant testified that, in order to secure locations for his amusement devices, it was his custom to loan sums of money to the proprietors of the establishments, and that he had made loans aggregating $28,400, the Court did not believe that defendant loaned such amounts for the privilege of installing the devices.

As defendant's records for 1952 were not complete, the Court undertook to determine his income in 1951. It was shown that he had deposited in bank in that year a total of $110,987.10. However, defendant's brother, Walter C. Brown, testified that of that amount only $84,419.14 was from collections.

Defendant claimed that, in determining the net income from his business, the following amounts were deductible from his gross income: salaries, $5,136.05; repairs, $6,049.58; gasoline and oil, $2,482.70; interest, $214.78; finance charges, $753; bad debts, $2,847.75; repairs to motor vehicles, $1,325; telephone, $193.55; freight, $282.94; heating, $439.78; license fees, $1,308; taxes, $612.77; total, $21,645.90.

Complainant challenged the deduction of $5,136.05 for salaries, and the deduction of $6,049.58 for repairs. She called attention to the testimony of defendant's collectors that they deducted the necessary amounts for salaries and repairs before they turned the collections over to defendant. Complainant also challenged the deduction of $2,482.70 for gasoline and oil, asserting that the testimony was uncontradicted that the collectors paid for gasoline and oil in cash. Giving defendant the benefit of the doubt by allowing all of the deductions claimed by him totaling $21,645.90, there still remained a balance of $62,733.24.

Largely because of the rapid depreciation of pinball machines and music boxes, the Court reached the conclusion that defendant's net income in 1951 was only $3,814.38. The Court evidently relied on the fact that defendant's brother testified that, in preparing the Federal income tax returns, he used the standard depreciation allowed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, namely, two years for pinball machines, and three years for music boxes. But he admitted that he used that depreciation merely because the Government allowed it for calculation of income tax, and he definitely stated that such was not the actual depreciation. Moreover, Irving B. Watkins, of Westminster, who has been in the pinball machine business for nearly a quarter of a century, testified as an expert that the average life of pinball machines is about five years, and the average life of music boxes is about ten years.

R. Bond Baker, one of defendant's collectors, testified that about 25 per cent of defendant's investment in amusement devices was in pinball machines, and about 75 per cent in music boxes. As there was testimony that all of defendant's amusement devices were worth $85,000, it was estimated that the value of the pinball machines was $21,250, and the value of his music boxes $63,750. Accordingly, if the pinball machines lasted only three years, or depreciated $7,100 a year, and the music boxes lasted only five years, or depreciated $12,750 a year, the total depreciation was not more than $20,000 a year. It was further conceded that the depreciation of defendant's motor vehicles was approximately $1,000 a year. Therefore, if the depreciation of the pinball machines and music boxes was $20,000, and the depreciation of the motor vehicles $1,000, defendant's net income from his business in 1951 was $41,773.24.

The view that defendant's income was far greater than that found by the Court is supported by the fact that, while his amusement devices in 1948 were valued at $33,000, they were valued in 1952 at over $85,000, and by the fact that, while he held no notes from debtors in May, 1951, in November, 1952, he held notes for over $28,000. He also held two mortgages for $4,700, and owned a $3,000 automobile and several motor trucks.

We are of the opinion that defendant should be ordered to pay at the rate of $100 a week for the maintenance of his wife and children, accounting from May 29, 1953. The Court should also order defendant to pay to complainant one-half of the net income from the properties held by them as tenants by the entireties, accounting from May 29, 1953.

Of course, if it is found from more complete records that defendant's income does not justify that allowance, the amount should be reduced. The amount of alimony to be awarded a wife is subject to variation from time to time as the circumstances, needs, and pecuniary conditions of the parties change. Winkel v. Winkel, 178 Md. 489, 499, 15 A.2d 914, 918; Safe Deposit Trust Co. of Baltimore v. Robertson, 192 Md. 653, 663, 65 A.2d 292, 296; Sugarman v. Sugarman, 197 Md. 182, 188, 78 A.2d 456, 459.

But with the information we now have, unsatisfactory though it is, we feel that payments in a larger amount can at least be made temporarily while complainant is in need. She swore that the necessaries of life, such as an apartment, food, clothing, transportation, and medical attention for herself and children had been costing over $100 a week. The Court ordered her husband to pay her only $50 a week, which was cut to $37.50 a week for 36 weeks. She explained that, even after she had spent the sum of $640, which she had in cash, and also some money she had withdrawn from the bank accounts before they were attached by her husband, she had to borrow $700 from her mother and $1,100 from her brother, and still owed over $1,000 for furniture.

It is entirely true that the court should not make an award of alimony so excessive as to oppress or dishearten the husband, but it is also true that the wife should not be made to suffer in loss of maintenance on account of her husband's extravagance. Timanus v. Timanus, 178 Md. 640, 643, 16 A.2d 918. The record in this case indicates that defendant did not deny himself any of the luxuries of life, while his wife was unable to pay for necessaries. In 1952, when defendant's Oldsmobile convertible, valued at $3,500 was wrecked, he purchased another convertible for more than $3,000. It also appeared that he traveled to conventions, to the seashore in summer, and to Florida in winter.

Defendant owns a building in Ridgeville worth $13,000, and two houses in Mount Airy worth nearly $10,000. In addition, he and complainant own a store and apartment building on East Patrick Street in Frederick worth $13,000, and an apartment house in Ridgeville worth $13,000. They also own building lots on Main Street in Mount Airy worth about $3,000.

Second. Complainant objected to the proviso in the decree cutting the weekly allowance of $50 to $37.50 during a period of 36 weeks in order to make restitution of $450 which she received from the sale of a bond.

We reaffirm the rule that a court of equity in a divorce or separate maintenance suit has no power, unless expressly conferred by statute, to transfer the property of either spouse to the other or otherwise to dispose of it. Hall v. Hall, 180 Md. 353, 24 A.2d 415; Brown v. Brown, 199 Md. 585, 87 A.2d 626, 628. The Legislature has conferred such power in cases of divorce, but not in cases of separate maintenance. Code 1951, art. 16, sec. 38. This is a suit for separate maintenance. The Court should therefore make its award of alimony on the basis of the wife's need and the husband's ability to pay without attempting to adjust the property rights of the parties.

Third. Complainant contends that the Court should have appointed a receiver to manage the properties held by the parties as tenants by the entireties. The object of a receivership is to preserve an estate intact, to keep it within the jurisdiction of the court, to prevent waste, spoliation, or deterioration pending its appropriation as may be directed by final decree. The power of a court of equity to appoint a receiver is a discretionary one exercised in aid of its jurisdiction to enable it to accomplish as far as possible complete justice between the parties before it. It should be exercised with great caution, and if it does not clearly appear that there is fraud, spoliation, or imminent danger of the loss of the property unless immediate possession is taken by the court, a receivership should not be ordered. Hagerstown Furniture Co. v. Baker, 155 Md. 549, 558, 142 A. 885; Williams v. Salisbury Ice Co., 176 Md. 13, 27, 3 A.2d 507.

It is the law in this State that the wife shares equally with the husband in the income from property held by them as tenants by the entireties. Whitelock v. Whitelock, 156 Md. 115, 122, 123, 143 A. 712; Collier v. Collier, 182 Md. 82, 90, 32 A.2d 469; Elko v. Elko, 187 Md. 161, 168, 49 A.2d 441, 168 A.L.R. 256. It is thus beyond question that a court of equity may appoint a receiver when necessary to manage real property owned by a husband and wife as tenants by the entireties. Keen v. Keen, 191 Md. 31, 38, 60 A.2d 200, 204.

In Masterman v. Masterman, 129 Md. 167, 178, 98 A. 537, where a couple owned a home as tenants by the entireties, but the husband abandoned it, and it was later damaged by fire, the Court of Appeals ruled that the Circuit Court of Baltimore City had the right to appoint a receiver to take charge of the property and to make the necessary repairs. Chief Judge Boyd said in the opinion of the Court in that case: "When one of them refuses to allow the money received from the insurance company to be used in repairing and restoring the property insured, the other might suffer great loss if a Court of Equity could furnish no relief. * * * The allegations of the bill, if sustained, are sufficient to justify the Court in appointing a receiver in order to protect the property from further loss, and deterioration from want of repairs, and if the Court is of the opinion that it is necessary for the preservation of the property from further loss after the delay occasioned by this appeal, to appoint a receiver at once it should do so for that purpose."

In the present case, however, the chancellor, who saw and heard the witnesses, considered it unnecessary to appoint a receiver. Complainant focused attention on the testimony that the property in Frederick, which defendant had been renting to a cousin for $75 a month, could be rented for $100 to $125 a month; and that the property in Ridgeville, which he had been renting for $95 a month, could be rented for $152.50 a month. But there was a difference of opinion among the witnesses as to what the properties could be rented for. One real estate expert testified that he was unable to say that $75 is an unreasonable rent for the property in Frederick. Furthermore, as defendant stated, complainant was satisfied with the rents from the properties before she left him, and there was no evidence of favoritism.

It is an established rule that the Court of Appeals will not reverse a decision of a court of equity upon a finding of facts unless it is clearly apparent that the finding is not supported by the weight of the evidence. Berman v. Leckner, 193 Md. 177, 186, 66 A.2d 392; Kolker v. Biggs, 203 Md. 137, 99 A.2d 743. As the testimony in this case is conflicting, and the Court evidently concluded that it was not for the best interests of the parties to subject them to the heavy expense of a receivership, we will not order the Court to appoint a receiver in these proceedings.

Fourth. We find no merit in complainant's contention that defendant should render an accounting in these proceedings for rents collected from the properties owned by her and her husband as tenants by the entireties. It is true that the husband should share equally with the wife all the net income obtained from property held by them as tenants by the entireties. But in this case defendant disclosed to the Court the income derived from all of the properties he owned individually and all those he and his wife owned as tenants by the entireties. Moreover, defendant asserted that he had made no charge for managing the properties or for collecting the rents. Under these circumstances we do not believe it would serve a useful purpose to order an accounting of the rents, which have already been considered by the Court in a case which has been prolonged over a period of three years. However, as we have said, we hold that defendant should pay to complainant one-half of the net income from the properties held by them as tenants by the entireties, accounting from May 29, 1953.

Fifth. Complainant contended that the decree should have ordered defendant to pay a counsel fee to her attorneys. We concur in her request, although we are not disposed to grant the full amount suggested by the attorneys.

We recognize that while the counsel fee to be allowed by the court in a divorce or separate maintenance suit cannot be based upon the financial ability of the husband, yet the amount of the fee cannot be wholly dissociated from his financial resources, as the fair value of the attorney's services, according to the ordinary factors of labor, skill, time, and benefit, may result in a fee which would be trivial to one client and a crushing burden to another. France v. Safe Deposit Trust Co., 176 Md. 306, 330, 4 A.2d 717; Waters v. Waters, 191 Md. 436, 441, 62 A.2d 250.

In Daiger v. Daiger, 154 Md. 501, 509, 140 A. 717, where the husband received a salary of $6,000, the Court of Appeals stated that the fee of $1,000 which had been allowed to the wife's attorney for services in the Circuit Court of Baltimore City was reasonable and proper, whereas the fee of $100 allowed him for his services on appeal was not adequate, but that $250 was a reasonable and proper fee for such services.

In this case the Court allowed complainant's attorneys $300 for their services on the first appeal, and $300 for their services on this appeal. However, the Court did not allow them any other fee except $100 at the time the suit was instituted. We have, therefore, decided that they should be allowed an additional fee of $1,000 to compensate them for their services extending over a period of three years in the Court below.

Decree affirmed in part and reversed in part, and case remanded for the passage of a decree in conformity with this opinion, with costs to appellant.

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BROWN v. BROWN
(Mar 22, 1954)