COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Chief Judge Felton, Judges Frank and Humphreys
Argued by teleconference
MARGARET A. PARKS
OPINION BY
v. Record No. 1991-07-1 CHIEF JUDGE WALTER S. FELTON, JR.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2008
DENNIS W. PARKS
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF YORK COUNTY
N. Prentis Smiley, Jr., Judge
Paul H. Wilson (Wilson & Wilson, P.C., on brief), for appellant.
Dennis W. Parks, pro se.
Margaret A. Parks (wife) appeals from the trial court’s July 31, 2007 final equitable
distribution order. On appeal, wife contends the trial court erred by: (1) awarding wife credit for
only a 1.5% commission on the sale of husband’s prior home and the purchase of the marital home;
(2) requiring husband to pay one-half the value of stocks at the time of sale rather than one-half the
value of stocks at the time the assets were to have been conveyed to wife; and (3) giving husband a
post-separation credit for principal reduction on the mortgage of the marital home.
On appeal, wife presents no legal authority in support of her three arguments.
Rule 5A:20(e) provides that the opening brief shall include “[t]he principles of law, the argument,
and the authorities relating to each question presented . . . . ” (Emphasis added). “Statements
unsupported by argument, authority, or citations to the record do not permit appellate
consideration.” Cirrito v. Cirrito, 44 Va. App. 287, 302 n.7, 605 S.E.2d 268, 275 n.7 (2004) (citing
Buchanan v. Buchanan, 14 Va. App. 53, 56, 415 S.E.2d 237, 239 (1992)). The Supreme Court
recently announced that when a party’s “failure to strictly adhere to the requirements of
Rule 5A:20(e)” is significant, “the Court of Appeals may . . . treat a question presented as waived.”
Jay v. Commonwealth, 275 Va. 510, 520, 659 S.E.2d 311, 317 (2008). Here, we find wife’s failure
to comply with Rule 5A:20(e) as to each question presented to be significant. Accordingly, wife’s
questions presented are waived, and the judgment of the trial court is affirmed without opinion as to
whether error exists in the record.
Affirmed.
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