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: Showmeblawgs

By stan_sipple

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Follow up: Personal Injury attorney Terry Crouppen's on-going divorce case heads back to the Missouri Court of Appeals to determine whether his ex-wife would receive part of his law firm's S-Corporation distributions. St Louis Today.

"High-profile personal injury lawyer Terry Crouppen and his former wife, Carol, are back in the Missouri Court of Appeals, whether they like it or not. And it's all about that word "whether." In Mr. Crouppen's appellant brief is a two-page-plus definition of the word and its usage, given as testimony during divorce proceedings by expert witness Bryan Garner, head of LawProse Inc. in Dallas, and editor in chief of Black's Law Dictionary.

The Crouppens' divorce judgment, finalized by St. Louis County Associate Court Judge Doug Beach, says, "Adjusted gross income shall mean income whether in the form of wages, salary or bonuses paid or payable to Terry Crouppen by Brown & Crouppen."
Mrs. Crouppen's maintenance is tied to Mr. Crouppen's income. In 2005, briefs say his W-2 showed income of $597,761, but he received almost $2 million more than that in a corporate Sub Chapter S distribution, according to a CPA testifying for Carol Crouppen.

Mr. Crouppen contends that is not part of gross adjusted income.

Mrs. Crouppen's experts say Crouppen and partner Ron Brown "can determine their own wages."

During the divorce process, the accountant testified the total 2005 income was actually $2,525,511.

In testimony, his 2004 W-2 showed income of $1,102,478.

Carol Crouppen won an appeals battle in February 2007 when Terry Crouppen tried to prevent her from looking into the company books.

Garner says that "whether" used in the context it was does not mean "whether or not," while Bob Summers, Mrs. Crouppen's attorney says it does mean that.

Mrs. Crouppen's respondents brief also said that in 2005, Brown & Crouppen spent $2.3 million on advertising and increased its line of credit by approximately $1.4 million."

Full post as published by Showmeblawgs on March 29, 2008 (boomark / email).