McDonald v. McDonald, 69 So. 3d 61

Ed McDonald filed for divorce after ~30 years of marriage; chancery court awarded Cindy separate maintenance and ordered Ed to pay $1,000 per month plus Cindy's mortgage and car payment.
Ed's total monthly obligation for maintenance was about $3,200; final decree entered April 17, 2009.
Thirteen days after the decree, Ed moved to terminate separate maintenance; the court held Ed's motive was to avoid payments and denied termination.
Ed later sought to terminate again and Cindy moved for contempt for six months of nonpayment; the court held Ed in contempt and awarded $6,000 arrearage and 8% interest plus $1,000 in Cindy's attorney's fees.
Ed appealed the denial of termination and the contempt ruling; the chancery court’s contempt finding and fees were affirmed on appeal.
Standard of review is the limited substantial-evidence/manifest-error standard for domestic-relations matters.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the chancellor properly denied termination of separate maintenance	McDonald contends good-faith reconciliation warranted termination	McDonald failed to show good faith and honest intent to resume cohabitation	Denied; termination not warranted based on lack of good-faith reconciliation
Whether Ed was properly held in contempt for nonpayment	Ed argues stay pending termination whistle blew; argues fees were improper	Contempt supported by uncontradicted arrears and failure to explain nonpayment	Affirmed contempt finding and fee award; no error shown in contempt/fees

Lynch v. Lynch, 616 So. 2d 294 (Miss.1993) (separate maintenance requires reconciliation; burden on party to show good faith and cohabitation)
Day v. Day, 501 So. 2d 353 (Miss.1987) (reconciliation must be in good faith; conjugal kindness and cohabitation justified termination)
Diehl v. Diehl, 29 So.3d 153 (Miss.Ct.App.2010) (separate maintenance analysis limited by substantial-evidence standard)