Tennessee Wife Gets Transitional Alimony After 3 Year Marriage of $1,000 / Month

Tennessee alimony divorce case summary after 3 years married.

The husband and wife in this Tennessee case were divorced in 2014 after three years of marriage. The divorce was granted to wife on the grounds of the husband’s inappropriate marital conduct. The husband was a mechanical engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratories, and also owned real property. His earnings were between $158,000 and $181,000, and he collected about $50,000 per year in rental fees.

The wife had worked at Home Depot before the marriage, and earned her real estate license during the marriage. She earned about $21,000 per year. The trial court divided the parties’ property, and also awarded the wife $1,000 per month transitional alimony for a period of two years. She was also awarded her attorney’s fees.

The husband appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals. He contested a number of the property issues, and also argued that the award of transitional alimony was inappropriate. After dealing with the property issues, the appeals court turned to the question of alimony.

The Court of Appeals first noted that transitional alimony is appropriate when an economically disadvantaged spouse requires financial assistance to adjust to the economic consequences of a divorce. Trial courts have broad discretion in setting the amount, and the appeals court warned that it should not second guess the decision, as long as the correct legal standard was used and the amount is not clearly unreasonable.

In this case, the court noted that the wife had left her previous employment and embarked on a new career, while the husband had a much higher income. The appeals court found that the husband had not met his burden of showing that this reasoning was unreasonable. Therefore, it affirmed the award of attorney’s fees.

The appeals court also agreed that the trial court had acted reasonably in awarding the wife her attorney’s fees. In fact, it awarded her fees for the appeal, and sent the case back to the lower court to determine the amount.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s judgment and remanded the case.

No. E2015-01470-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 21, 2016).

See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Alimony Law in Tennessee.