Ronald E. Hill v. Charlotte A. Hill

Plaintiff and defendant were married in January 1957, and separated October, 1967. Two children were born to the marriage, Cheryl Ann, aged nine and Ronald Edward, Jr., aged two. Plaintiff filed his petition for divorce. Defendant answered and filed cross bill. Trial was had on May 2nd, 1968. The court found the issues for defendant, dismissed plaintiff's petition, and granted defendant a divorce on her cross bill. She was awarded custody of the children with rights of visitation to plaintiff each Sunday. Plaintiff was required to pay defendant the sum of $300.00 monthly for child support, $2,000.00, for attorney fees, and the total sum of $20,000.00, to be paid at the rate of $400.00 monthly, as alimony. Plaintiff appeals from that part of the judgment relating to attorney fees and alimony in gross. Plaintiff is a mechanical engineer, employed by Hemco Corporation, in which there are 400 shares. One share is owned by defendant, 196 by plaintiff, and the remaining 203 shares are owned by plaintiff's father and mother. He is president and chairman of the board. Plaintiff is an only child of his parents. The gross receipts of the corporation for 1966 were $751,915.46. He stated that he is vice president and partner in H & R Design Corporation, but owns no stock therein. He is president and chairman of the board of Midwest Fiber Glass Company, a family owned corporation. He reported a total salary for 1967, of $18,294.48, and for 1966, $16,606.72. He owned 143 shares of stock in Midwest Fiber Glass Company. There are two family corporations, H & R Design and Titan Ice Company, in which plaintiff had previously been interested but he refused to give any information regarding them. Plaintiff stated that, during his married life, prior to this action, he gave his entire salary check, $446.00, twice a month, to defendant. He denied that he was on an expense account, except for business expenses actually incurred by him. He offered to pay $300.00 per month child support.