All opinions are subject to modification and technical correction prior to official publication in the North Carolina Reports and North Carolina Court of Appeals Reports. In the event of discrepancies between the electronic version of an opinion and the print version appearing in the North Carolina Reports and North Carolina Court of Appeals Reports, the latest print version is to be considered authoritative.
Divorce--separation agreement--intent of parties--ambiguities--parol evidence
The decision of the Court of Appeals upholding an order of the trial court voiding
an entire separation agreement for vagueness and uncertainty is reversed for the reasons stated in
the dissenting opinion in the Court of Appeals that the intent of the parties can be determined by
the plain language of the separation agreement, and any ambiguities creating questions of fact
may properly be resolved with the use of parol evidence.
Appeal pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 7A-30(2) from the
decision of a divided panel of the Court of Appeals, 169 N.C.
App. 46, 610 S.E.2d 731 (2005), affirming an order entered on
1 March 2004 by Judge Kimbrell Kelly Tucker in District Court,
Cumberland County. Heard in the Supreme Court 17 October 2005.
Reid, Lewis, Deese, Nance & Person, LLP, by Renny W.
Deese, for plaintiff-appellant.
Sullivan & Grace, P.A., by Nancy L. Grace, for
defendant-appellee.
PER CURIAM.
For the reasons stated in the dissenting opinion, the
decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed. The case is
remanded to the Court of Appeals for further remand to the trial
court for further proceedings.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
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