TN Wife Gets $1,400 Alimony/Mo. After 24 Year Marriage
Tennessee alimony divorce case summary after 24 years married.
Julie Marie Chumley v. Randall Edward Chumley
The husband and wife in this Tennessee divorce case had been married for 24 years and had one daughter, age 17, at the time the wife filed for divorce. A trial was held, and the wife was awarded $1,400 per month alimony in futuro.
Both parties were high school graduates, and at the time of the divorce, the husband was 46 and the wife 51. The husband worked as a press setter for a printing company and earned about $60,000 per year. At the time of trial, the wife worked for Publix and earned about $10 per hour.
After the trial court awarded alimony, the husband appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The wife had asked for a larger amount of alimony, but the trial court had considered two factors. First, it noted that the wife had received a large portion of the property settlement. The trial court had also considered the fact that wife had looked into a nursing career, but had decided against it. The trial court had noted that when someone doesn’t want to do something they might be able to do, that is a factor to be taken into account.
The husband argued on appeal that this should have been carried further. He argued that the wife was able bodied and capable of supporting herself without alimony. He argued that, at most, the wife should have been awarded only rehabilitative or transitional alimony.
The appeals court agreed with the husband that Tennessee favors these forms of shorter term alimony. But after reviewing the evidence, it concluded that the lower court had correctly applied the relevant factors, and affirmed the lower court’s award.
After addressing some other issues, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s judgment, and also awarded the wife her attorney’s fees on appeal.
No. M2015-00378-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Dec. 23, 2015).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see Alimony Law in Tennessee.
