Matthew H. v. Heather H., 15-1074

Matthew H. and Heather H. married in 2003, separated October 3, 2013, and have three minor children; Heather filed for divorce January 16, 2014.
Family court granted divorce to Heather on grounds of adultery and cruel and inhuman treatment after a December 1, 2014 final hearing and entered a March 26, 2015 decree addressing custody, visitation, equitable distribution, and attorney fees.
Temporary (pendent lite) order (April 7, 2014) required Matthew to pay $3,000/month: $1,800 designated child support and $1,200 undesignated pending final hearing (total undesignated payments = $12,000).
Family court froze Matthew’s equity in the marital home at a stipulated $350,000 and awarded any sale proceeds above that amount to Heather, explaining she was making payments, taxes, insurance, and repairs.
Family court denied Heather’s request for attorney’s fees; calculated marital distribution via worksheet but did not include the $12,000 undesignated payments in that worksheet.
Circuit court affirmed family court on most points but found harmless error in exclusion of a deposition transcript; both courts left two issues insufficiently explained (apportionment of the $12,000 and attorney’s fees findings).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Matthew)	Defendant's Argument (Heather)	Held
Whether decree included rulings not made by court	Decree contained provisions prepared by respondent’s attorney that court didn’t make	Court’s initials and handwritten changes show judge reviewed and adopted decree	Court: no error; judge reviewed and edited decree
Admissibility of respondent’s testimony about her mental well‑being	Excluding full medical records and permitting lay testimony was improper	Family court compelled records; respondent limited to lay perceptions; cross‑examined at hearing	Court: no abuse of discretion; testimony limited and permissible
Whether adultery occurred within statutory time period	Adultery after separation cannot support divorce	Adultery within three years before filing supports divorce; relevant date is filing of petition	Court: adultery within period (between separation and filing) supports divorce; affirmed
Equitable distribution / $12,000 undesignated payments & attorney’s fees	Family court’s freeze of equity unfair; $12,000 treated as both distribution and child support; denied Heather fees	Heather: $12,000 should be apportioned; she seeks fees under Banker factors	Court: affirm freeze at $350,000; reverse on $12,000 and on denial of fees — remand to apportion $12,000 between child support and distribution (recalculate estate if needed) and to apply Banker factors with specific findings

Banker v. Banker, 196 W.Va. 535, 474 S.E.2d 465 (1996) (factors trial court must consider when awarding attorney’s fees in divorce)
Carr v. Hancock, 216 W.Va. 474, 607 S.E.2d 803 (2004) (standard of review for family court orders reviewed by circuit court)
Michael D.C. v. Wanda L.C., 201 W.Va. 381, 497 S.E.2d 531 (1997) (statutory time period for adultery as ground for divorce)
McDougal v. McCammon, 193 W.Va. 229, 455 S.E.2d 788 (1995) (discretionary review of evidentiary rulings and discovery sanctions)
State v. Guthrie, 194 W.Va. 657, 461 S.E.2d 163 (1995) (deference to factfinder on witness credibility)
In re Katie S., 198 W.Va. 79, 479 S.E.2d 589 (1996) (children’s welfare governs family law decisions)
Quicken Loans, Inc. v. Brown, 236 W.Va. 12, 777 S.E.2d 581 (2014) (authority to award attorney’s fees for appellate proceedings)