Meyr v. Meyr

GRAEFF, J. On February 1, 2010, the Circuit Court for Queen Anne’s County awarded the parties, appellee, Ms. Chona Meyr, and appellant, Mr. Ronald Meyr, a limited divorce. This appeal arises from orders of the circuit court regarding: (1) Ms. Meyr’s visitation rights; and (2) payment of attorneys’ fees for the best interest attorney and for Ms. Meyr in connection with the appeal initiated by Mr. Meyr. Mr. Meyr presents the following questions for our review, which we quote: 1. Did the trial court exceed its authority when it delegated to the best interest attorney the decision of how long family reunification therapy would continue? 2.

Did the trial court properly exercise its discretion when it failed to specify the day and time of visitation? 3. Did the trial court abuse its discretion when it ordered appellant to pay for all of the services of the best interest ⁵²⁹ attorney and to pay advanced appellate attorney’s fees to appellee? For the reasons set forth below, we agree that the court improperly ordered Mr. Meyr to pay the best interest attorney’s fee. Otherwise, we shall affirm the judgments of the circuit court.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Mr. and Ms. Meyr were married in 1996. The parties had three children, a daughter born on January 7, 1998, and twin girls born on September 8, 2000. On April 6, 2009, Ms. Meyr filed a Complaint for Absolute Divorce, or in the Alternative, Complaint for Limited Divorce. On May 21, 2009, a Pendente Lite Hearing was held before a Master.

At the hearing, the Master found that Ms. Meyr had “not been permitted to see, or have contact with the children since she left.” The court subsequently issued several orders, providing for Ms. Meyr to have visitation with the children, ordering Mr. Meyr to pay alimony to Ms. Meyr in the amount of $600.00 per month, and appointing Jean Meta, Esquire, to represent the minor children. The court ordered Mr. Meyr to pay the attorney a deposit of $750, indicating that “a final allocation of fees will be determined by the Court at the hearing on the merits of the case, or upon motion of child’s counsel.” On July 21, 2009, Mr. Meyr filed a motion to amend the Pendente Lite Order, arguing that unsupervised visitation with Ms. Meyr was not in the best interest of the children “due to the problems the children have been having beforef,] duringf,] and after the supervised visitation, and the concerns of the children’s therapist.” Mr. Meyr also claimed that Ms. Meyr’s home was not a suitable location for unsupervised visitation because she lived with a person with “an extensive criminal record.” Mr. Meyr asked the court to extend supervised visitation. On July 30, 2009, Ms. Meyr filed a Motion for Order of Contempt and Motion to Enforce Order, arguing that Mr. ⁵³⁰ Meyr was not complying with the order to give her unsupervised access to the children, and he had failed to make alimony payments as ordered. A Show Cause hearing was scheduled for September 22, 2009.

On August 7, 2009, Ms. Meyr filed an Answer to Mr. Meyr’s motion to amend the Pendente Lite Order, stating that the individual with a criminal record about whom Mr. Meyr complained in his motion had lived with Mr. and Ms. Meyr and their older daughter while the parties were married, and that Mr. Meyr did not make “sufficient allegations to constitute a Petition to Modify Custody.” On August 12, 2009, the court denied Mr. Meyr’s motion to amend the Pendente Lite Order. On August 21, 2009, Mr. Meyr filed a Motion to Modify Visitation. He argued that unsupervised visits were not in the best interests of the children, alleging that the children refused to participate in unsupervised visitation, and that Ms. Meyr “involved the Sheriffs Department Deputies in attempting to force the children to attend.” He stated that the court-appointed best interest attorney agreed that unsupervised visitation was not in the children’s best interest. 1 Mr. Meyr requested that the court schedule an emergency visitation hearing and “[m]odify the Order to continue visitation at the Visitation Center until the Therapist and Children’s counsel believe it is appropriate for unsupervised visits.” On August 24, 2009, Mr. Meyr filed an Answer to [Ms. Meyr’s] Motion for Order of Contempt and Motion to Enforce Order. Mr. Meyr asserted that he had informed Ms. Meyr’s counsel prior to July 26, 2009, that the transportation of the children was Ms. Meyr’s responsibility and that, due to the “extensive criminal history” of the individual with whom Ms. Meyr resided, Mr. Meyr did not want the children at Ms. Meyr’s home.

Mr. Meyr claimed that the children refused to visit with Ms. Meyr and that it was not in the children’s best ⁵³¹ interest to be forced to do so. Mr. Meyr also admitted that he had failed to pay alimony to Ms. Meyr, but he claimed that he was in the process of putting wage withholding in place with his employer. On September 22, 2009, a Show Cause hearing took place. Mr. Meyr promised to pay Ms. Meyr alimony of $1,200 immediately, and he was ordered to pay arrears in the amount of $1,200 by November 23, 2009.

The parties agreed to participate in, and split evenly, fees for family reunification therapy. The contempt matter was continued until November 23, 2009, but after the parties resolved the issues, the court dismissed the Petition for Contempt. On January 19 and 20, 2010, trial proceeded. The circuit court made extensive findings of fact, which the parties adopt, in its February 1, 2010, Memorandum Opinion and Judgment of Limited Divorce, as follows: Mrs. Meyr is a native of the Philippines, while Mr. Meyr is a citizen of the United States.

The two met in 1996, when Mr. Meyr placed an advertisement for a wife in a newspaper, to which Mrs. Meyr responded. After brief correspondence and a short trip by Mr. Meyr to the Philippines, Mr. Meyr paid for Mrs. Meyr’s transportation to the United States and the two married on December 22, 1996 in a religious ceremony in Chester, Maryland. It is reasonable to conclude that before marrying, the two had not explored in depth what they had in common and had not thrashed out their views toward their mutual marital and parental obligations. Mrs. Meyr spoke little English and Mr. Meyr did not speak her Philippine dialect.

Nevertheless, the marriage produced three children; [a daughter] on January 7, 1998; and then twins [], born on September 8, 2000. For many years, Mr. Meyr had been working and still works in a family enterprise, Island Builder Services, Inc.[ 2 ] Mrs. Meyr, a high school graduate in the Philippines, had no ⁵³² real marketable skills and brought no financial assets to the union. In the early years of the marriage, the couple lived together in their own homes, but in August of 2007, they moved in with Mr. [Meyr’s] mother, Betty Meyr, in her house, which also serves as the office for the family enterprise. Mr. Meyr’s younger, unmarried brother, Tom Meyr, who is also an employee of Island Builders, lives with them in their mother’s home.

The children, of course, moved with them and remain in Betty Meyr’s household to this day. Over the months that Mrs. Meyr lived in that household, she claims that her mother-in-law established the rules for the family and, in league with Mr. Meyr, pushed her aside. The effect of this was to discharge her from many of the parental responsibilities she exercised before they combined households. All testified that Mrs. Meyr has been assigned to learn English on her own, so that she could help with homework and assist the daughters as they grew and evolved into adults.

On March 22, 2009, Mrs. Meyr left the marital home and alleged that Mr. Meyr had been abusing her physically and mentally for an extended period of time. She claimed that it was only when she learned that, as a permanent resident, she was immune from deportation that she [felt] free to leave. Although Mrs. Meyr had worked briefly for Island Builders in some menial capacity, she never received any pay personally, nor was she allowed to keep pay from her employment at High’s convenience store.® 3 Her pay went directly into their family account and she received cash when Mr. Meyr believed it necessary for her to have some. After Mrs. Meyr acquired employment out of the home (at High’s), Betty [Meyr] assumed responsibility for tending to the children and maintained she charged her son’s family $1,000 per month for rent.

The rent was never actually paid over, but maintained as a bookkeeping record. Betty Meyr also claimed to have billed them $1,400 for childcare ⁵³³ and transportation, but testified that it was also only a bookkeeping deduction from her son’s monthly pay. In justification for his reluctance to allow the children to visit with their mother and for his consequent insistence on only supervised visitation, Mr. Meyr claimed that his wife had been unfit to meet the children’s needs for many reasons, mostly arising from her limited ability to speak English and failure to educate herself as he said that she had agreed to do. He also alleged some physical abuse of the children, which Mrs. Meyr strongly denied.

According to Mr. Meyr and his mother, they obtained numerous books for her to use in self-education and provided time for her to study by herself in her room, while he and his mother cared for the children. According to Mrs. Meyr, she was sent to, and even on occasion locked in, her room with the study assignments and away from the family. Mr. Meyr claims that she voluntarily isolated herself from the children and the family. By all accounts, the children are exceptionally bright, do very well in school, and have enjoyed a comfortable life to the present day.

For several years, Mr. Meyr provided karate lessons, a sport in which all three excel and which creates a monthly expense of $100 per child. While they were all living together as a family, Mr. Meyr took them on several vacations, including on a holiday trip with his mother and brother to Disney World. Although there were allegations by Mr. Meyr of maternal neglect at previous times, such as “allowing the children to wander unsupervised throughout the neighborhood” and “losing” one child briefly in an airport ladies room, there was no convincing evidence of any mistreatment or neglect of the children when they were in the care of their mother. Mr. Meyr also made claims that one of Mrs. Meyr’s good friends was a bad influence.[ 4 ] All of Mr. Meyr’s claims made during the ⁵³⁴ hearing fell far short of supporting an inference of Mrs. Meyr’s poor parenting.

Most significant to the Court was the evidence that Mr. Meyr treated his wife not as an equal, but as someone to whom, like a child, he could assign reading and study assignments and could control friendships. Cynthia Browne, a licensed family therapist with 25 years of experience, agreed to interview the family and report to the Court on her findings about the children and the family dynamics. She met with the children on six occasions, with Mrs. Meyr on four of them, and with Mr. Meyr on only the family’s second visit. According to her, the first session went well, but from then on, the sessions deteriorated and she concluded that Mr. Meyr and his mother were actively discouraging the children from cooperating.

During the session that Mr. Meyr attended, he was contentious and indicated the sessions interfered with his work. At the sessions, the children expressed low regard for their mother and expressed beliefs that she was stupid because of her limited English. Ms. Brown [sic] also overheard conversations Betty Meyr had with the children in which she indicated that, by staying strong, they would succeed in what they had been doing and would “turn the tables on them.” Highly significant to the Court was Ms. Browne’s professional opinion that the fighting over visitation and custody, together with the children being programmed to oppose their mother, supported the allegations that Mr. Meyr has placed the children in profound jeopardy of lasting psychological damage. The children expressed opinions that their mother was “a vicious nasty person” who “refuses to learn,[”] is “not smart,” and “can’t work.” The children also expressed an opinion that Mrs. Meyr should “go back to her own country.” Ms. Browne opined that the girls were, at their critical and tender ages, being programmed to be “cruel and unfeeling” adults.

The notes taken by those workers who observed the children during supervised visitation at For All Seasons Visitation Center on other occasions ⁵³⁵ supported the conclusion that the children were being encouraged not to cooperate with the visitation. Mr. Meyr vigorously requested that the court interview the children. Mrs. Meyr and Jean Meta, the best interests attorney, opposed the Court’s interviewing them and grounded their opposition on two claims. First, that the children lacked the judgment and maturity to assist the Court in determining custody and visitation, and second, that the children had become essentially tools for their father in the litigation and had been programmed to testify falsely in his support.

Over their objections, the Court did not interview them on the record. In order to allay fears that the children might be influenced by Mr. Meyr or his mother in bringing them to court, Mr. Meyr’s attorney volunteered to go to their school and transport them herself. Because of the restricted space in chambers and the inability to record the interview there, the court sat without a judicial robe at Mr. Meyr’s counsel table and spoke with all three separately. Shelly Coleman, the Queen Anne’s County Family Services Coordinator, Jean Meta, the best interest attorney, and the court reporter also were present and listened but did not take part during the interviews.

The interviews confirmed the testimony of the exceptional intelligence of all three children. They appeared well groomed, relaxed, and fully aware of the purpose for the interviews, as well as eager to support their father in his claims about their mother’s unfitness to have custody or to visit with them. They claimed that their mother had physically abused them, but could point out only some unwanted hugging in connection with picture-taking during supervised visitation. At least one child claimed that all three had agreed that, if they were forced by the Court to have a close relationship that included unsupervised visitation, they would run away and not abide by the Court order, a statement that seemed totally contrived.

Most remarkable was their complete denial of any love for their mother and any empathy for their mother’s feelings or point of view in this dispute. [The older daughter] contradicted her father’s ⁵³⁶ testimony that they had discussed the case briefly that morning on the way to school, claiming that the last time they had discussed the case was several weeks before. One of the twins said that their mother had caused them not to have a 2009 Christmas vacation because of the expenses of the court case. Most noteworthy was the mechanical and robotic convergence of their testimony, which showed that they most likely had been extensively coached by their family as to what to say. It is also clear that their expressed lack of love and respect for their natural mother is the result of the positions taken by their father in this litigation.

Mr. Meyr called his mother, Betty Meyr, to testify at the hearing as to her observations about her son, her daughter-in-law, and the children. She impressed the Court as an able and strong businesswoman who is completely convinced that [] Mrs. Meyr’s participation in [the children’s] lives would not be in their best interest. However, her demeanor and testimony confirmed that she was working actively to undermine Mrs. Meyr’s relationship with her children. She denied any mistreatment whatever by her son of Mrs. Meyr, and said that the alleged incidents that Mrs. Meyr claimed, like being locked in her room and choked on occasion, never happened.

She showed a great deal of bias when she departed from simple answers to make other points in her son’s favor, and attempted to damage Mrs. Meyr’s case for visitation or custody. Her testimony about earnings and expenses for her son was utterly unconvincing and unhelpful to the Court, as she appeared to be hiding his actual earnings and take-home pay. It is abundantly clear that she is completely [in] control of Island Builders Services, controlling the books as well as all of the other managerial functions. It is also clear that Betty Meyr decides how much her sons earn in their employment.

Mrs. Meyr has alleged that Betty Meyr is a central cause of the problems in the household and is guiding the custody action. It is not important to the Court’s conclusion whether this is accurate, but Betty Meyr’s testimony showed her ⁵³⁷ to be a powerful, opinionated woman who is capable of having participated negatively in the events surrounding the visits to the family therapist, Cynthia Browne, and having pushed aside Mrs. Meyr in the child rearing as alleged. It is not possible to determine clearly just what the character of the Meyr marriage was before the separation, but it is reasonable to conclude that it started without any real love, affection, or real intellectual compatibility. The union produced accomplished children whom both Mr. Meyr and Mrs. Meyr deeply love, but the marriage definitely was not and has not been between equals who shared in the important decisions affecting their lives or the lives of their children.

The testimony and evidence did not show that Mr. Meyr demonstrated any love or respect for his partner, and since the breakup, the testimony showed that Mr. Meyr has attempted to exclude Mrs. Meyer from all of the critical decisions regarding their children. He had made arrangements for their extensive dental care, switched schools for one daughter, and generally proceeded to act "without consulting with or considering the wishes of their mother. He candidly stated in his testimony that he does not believe her opinion on matters regarding the children is important or valuable. It is reasonable to conclude that his attitude and opinion are not of recent origin and may have endured through most of the marriage, perhaps even from the very beginning.

During the period since separation, Mrs. Meyr has been working for a minimum wage without benefits at Royal Farms, another convenience store. She has no transportation, lives in a rented room, and is saving funds accumulated from her pendente lite alimony to purchase a car. She currently has no driver’s license, but is making arrangements to acquire one. She has persevered in her efforts to establish maternal relations with her children in spite of their hostility and unkind words and actions.

Thirteen years after coming to a strange land and after having been financially dependent in a marriage, she is now for the first ⁵³⁸ time trying to begin a new life on her own, under considerably altered conditions and diminished living arrangements. Since the separation, Mr. Meyr has had total custody of all three children, while he continues to live with his mother and brother. He exercises complete decision making authority and sends letters to Mrs. Meyr about the children because that is what he “believes the court wants him to do.” He has the exact standard of hving that he enjoyed for many years before the separation, and continues to provide his children with the standard of living that they have always enjoyed. (Footnotes omitted).

Based upon these factual determinations, the trial court concluded that steps toward family reunification were necessary. The court set forth its conclusions as follows: The Court’s conclusions regarding the marriage and the breakup are harsh. It is clear to the Court that the marriage from the very beginning was not one between equals who were to share a life together and take joint pleasure together in the raising of the children. Most likely from the very beginning, Mr. Meyr regarded his wife as little more than the bearer of his children and a maid or servant in his household, not fully able to discharge her parental duties without substantial further education.

He concluded that her English skills, which he had to appreciate from the outset, were far below his and those with whom he associated. He says this is why he assigned her the responsibility of making up what he perceived as her “insufficiency.” Her inability to live up to his present requirements could scarcely have come as a surprise to him. His testimony that she “agreed” to learn English to the level where she could assist their children is completely unavailing and does not justify what he has done since then, shunting her aside as he substituted himself and his mother for the maternal role that his wife was and is entitled to enjoy. ⁵³⁹ The Court concludes from the expert opinion and the believable testimony from others that the children are in severe danger of psychological injury that could follow them into adulthood. The Court finds from the evidence that Mr. Meyr and his strong-willed mother, assisted by his brother, have combined to alienate the three children from Mrs. Meyr.

Together they have caused these children to discard the natural, healthy, and appropriate children/parent relationship, to which they have a right as well as a necessity to develop during their childhood. The Court regards the current state of affairs in the interests of the children call for immediate modification of their current arrangement with the now-divided parents. That means an adjustment in the current visitation and custody orders, the continued involvement of the children’s best interest attorney, Jean Meta, and continued supervision by the Court. Repairing the existing bad relations of the children and their mother, and reestablishing normal and proper relations, may progress slowly and with difficulty.

The Court believes that much depends on the goodwill of Mr. Meyr, his brother, and his mother, even though undoubtedly, they will disagree and may want to resist. Nevertheless, their sincere cooperation will certainly shorten and simplify the process. The Court periodically will have to continue to monitor and to evaluate the children’s progress toward establishing proper healthy relations with their mother, as well as their father. The custody, support, and alimony orders in this case are designed with therapy to renovate the parental relationships and to cure the harm that Mr. Meyr and others have thus far caused to the normal and healthy mother/daughter relationships.

The Court thoroughly appreciates the difficulty of the task that confronts all those involved in this family. As stated above, reunification may take a great deal of time and will incur substantial expense. The Court concludes, however, that the responsibility for the state of affairs falls entirely on Mr. Meyr and he should bear the entire liability ⁵⁴⁰ for paying for the repair. Mrs. Meyr is not today in financial condition to pay any part at all.

Mrs. Meyr does not yet have the living arrangements nor the income to have physical custody of her children. As a temporary arrangement, the court is awarding physical custody to Ronald Meyr and ordering the two parents to share legal custody. The court is also ordering the children’s best interest attorney, Jean Meta, Esquire, to oversee the children’s therapy. As such, the Court is vesting with her the power to direct family reunification therapy subject to supervision and modification by the Court. [] Included in the Court’s Order is a short period of supervised visitation between Mrs. Meyr and the children using the services of the children’s karate teacher, James Sherman, as a supervisor.

After that period expires, the Court will order that Mrs. Meyr have unsupervised visitation at least one day per week for at least three hours, with the time to increase as the Best Interest Attorney follows the recommendation of the family therapist. The court will order that Mr. Meyr shall pay for the cost and fees incurred by the Best Interest Attorney and all of the costs for the family therapy. The more quickly the reunification is complete, the sooner Mr. Meyr can be free from what the Court recognizes is a substantial, but hopes temporary, burden. Lastly, Mrs. Meyr will need assistance in providing conditions in which the children can visit without supervision.

She has been deprived of the opportunity to take joy in rearing her children over the years, but especially since the separation. The Court orders regarding custody, visitation, and therapy seek to help her as well as the children unify and establish normal relations. In addition, she will also need assistance in becoming wholly self-supporting. She now has limited education and skills suitable for the economic conditions [in which] she finds herself after voluntarily leaving the marriage.

She will need substantial time to acquire education or training to achieve a living standard equal to that which she had during a 13-year marriage. ⁵⁴¹ Her relatively young age today should allow her time to do so. Although Ronald Meyr offered testimony and exhibits to show a decreased level of income, the precipitous drop from almost $100,000 per year in 2006 and 2007 to slightly over $30,000 per year was not convincing at all. He has not changed his standard of living over the years, receives housing and childcare as a bookkeeping item from his mother, and has a job that currently keeps him too busy to attend the therapy sessions with Ms. Browne. Mrs. Meyr will need a great deal of time to achieve skills to allow her to acquire her previous lifestyle and become self-supporting.

She currently cannot earn more than a bare minimum wage. Her thirteen years of marriage under conditions that led to her leaving the household support her right to have assistance from her former husband. Although Mr. Meyr is 57, and Mrs. Meyr is only 38. [sic] Mr. Meyr is maintaining a consistent lifestyle and has savings and a major share in a money-making enterprise that has, in the recent past, paid him $100,000 per year. He can well afford to assist Mrs. Meyr without suffering a decrease in his standard of living and provide their children his share of support....

The court issued a series of orders on February 1, 2010. It issued a Judgment of Limited Divorce, awarding rehabilitative alimony of $650 per month for four years, and at the conclusion of that time, permanent alimony in the amount of $300 per month. The court issued an Order Regarding Custody and Visitation, which awarded primary physical custody to Mr. Meyr, with visitation for Ms. Meyr, and ordered that the parties have shared legal custody. The order further provided: ORDERED, that the children’s best interests attorney, Jean Meta, Esquire, shall remain appointed to coordinate the children’s reunification therapy with Mother, for as long as she deems said therapy is needed by the family, or until she petitions to the Court to be relieved for said duties; and it is ⁵⁴² ORDERED, that Jean Meta, Esquire, is vested with the power to direct family reunification therapy, including but not limited to the power to choose alternate therapists or care providers as necessary; and it is ORDERED, that Jean Meta, Esquire, is vested with the power to modify Mother’s access schedule upon consultation with the family’s care providers, as therapy progresses and she deems appropriate; and it is ORDERED, that Mother shall have supervised periods of access with the minor children, with access to [the twins] every other week, and access to [the older daughter] on the alternating week, until Mother has had four (4) visits with each child, or until March 22, 2010, whichever occurs first;[ 5 ] and it is ORDERED, that Mother’s supervised period of access shall be supervised by James P. Sherman, or, in the event he is unavailable, another individual mutually agreed upon in writing by the parties; and it is ORDERED, that upon Mother’s having four (4) visits with each child or the coming of March 22, 2010, Mother shall have unsupervised visitation with each child (but not necessarily all three children at the same time) at least once per week for 3 hours, with the hope and expectation that such time will increase as family therapy progresses; and it is ORDERED, that in addition to the weekly periods of supervised or unsupervised visitation, Mother shall be entitled to ⁵⁴³ travel to the Kent Island Martial Arts Center (KMAC) located at 222 Shopping Center Road, Stevensville, Maryland 21666 (or any other address to which said establishment might relocate), to see the minor children in their martial arts classes whenever convenient and provided that Mother or her attorney of record gives Father or his attorney of record written notice at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to the intended visit; and it is ORDERED, that Father shall pay all costs and fees associated with the children’s best interest attorney, Jean Meta, Esquire; and it is ORDERED, that Father shall pay all costs and fees associated with reunification, family, and children’s therapy not otherwise covered by insurance, including but not limited to the expenses associated with Dr. Catherine Smithmyer and Cynthia Browne, LCSW-C....

On February 16, 2010,