George E. Trim v. Lisa Mosley Trim

Summary

The Mississippi Supreme Court held that intentionally filing a substantially false Uniform Chancery Court Rule 8.05 financial disclosure statement constitutes fraud upon the court. Because fraud upon the court is not subject to Rule 60(b)'s six-month limitation, the chancery court had authority to modify the final divorce judgment and property distribution. The court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated and affirmed the chancery court's judgment awarding Lisa Trim additional marital-property compensation, attorneys' fees, and costs.

Holdings

1. A party's intentional filing of a substantially false Rule 8.05 financial disclosure statement constitutes fraud upon the court.
2. No time limit constrained the chancery court's ability to remedy a fraud upon the court by modifying the divorce judgment.
3. The Court of Appeals improperly reweighed conflicting evidence that was capable of more than one reasonable interpretation; the chancellor's findings were supported by sufficient evidence and were within the chancellor's fact-finding discretion.
4. A property settlement agreement incorporated into a divorce judgment may be reformed or modified on the basis of fraud or inequitable conduct.

Questions Presented

1. Whether an intentional filing of a substantially false Uniform Chancery Court Rule 8.05 financial disclosure statement constitutes fraud upon the court.
2. Whether a petition seeking relief from a divorce judgment based on such fraud is subject to Rule 60(b)(1)'s six-month limitation period.
3. Whether the Court of Appeals improperly reweighed the evidence and disturbed the chancellor's factual findings concerning fraud.

Disposition

reversed