Wife Denied Alimony After Only 4 Year Tennessee Marriage
Tennessee alimony law case summary following 4 years of marriage. Divorce and alimony law from the Court of Appeals.
Robert Greer Morris v. Patti Deakins Morris – Tennessee divorce alimony 4 years
The husband and wife in this Tennessee divorce case were married in 2008, the third marriage for each. The husband filed for divorce in 2012. At that time, he was 70 years old, and the wife was 58 years old.
The trial court granted the divorce in 2013 and divided the marital assets. The wife had made a request for alimony and reimbursement of medical expenses. This request was denied.
The wife appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. First, she argued that she was entitled to alimony, since she had medical conditions that might become problematic in the future. In addition, she alleged that she had paid medical bills in excess of $110,000 during the marriage from her separate property, and that this should be reimbursed from marital funds.
The appeals court first noted that the marriage had been of a short duration, only four years. In such a case, the court’s main duty is, as much as possible, to place the parties back in the financial positions they occupied prior to the marriage. But there are other statutory factors to consider, and the appeals court next turned to those factors.
In particular, the wife pointed to her health. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer, but it had been in remission for three years. After carefully weighing all of the evidence, the appeals court held that the trial judge’s findings were supported by the evidence. Therefore, it affirmed the denial of alimony.
The court next turned to the question of whether the medical expenses should be reimbursed. The wife testified that she had total bills of over $110,000 and that she had “paid every red cent except for $10,000.” But other than this statement, she produced no evidence such as bank statements, cancelled checks, bills, or any other documentation. The court noted that the balance of her investment account had actually increased during the marriage.
Given this state of the record, the Court of Appeals concluded that the evidence did not preponderate against the lower court’s findings. Accordingly, it affirmed this ruling as well.
Even though the Court of Appeals affirmed, it denied the husband’s request for attorney fees on appeal. It did, however, assess the costs of the appeal against the wife.
No. E2013-02581-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 16, 2014).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, read Tennessee Alimony Law.
