Husband Entitled to Recalculation of Alimony Amount

Tennessee alimony divorce case summary after 7 years married.

Ashley Joell Lindsley v. Philip J. Lindsley

The husband and wife in this Williamson County, Tennessee, case were married in 2012 and had three minor children, the oldest of whom was three years old at the time of their marriage.  The mother originally lived in Mississippi where she had family.  At the time of the marriage, the husband was a store manager, but later worked in a business owned by his family doing vehicle customization.  The wife worked as a dental hygienist.  In 2017, the wife discovered that the husband had fathered a child outside of the marriage.  Later that year, he left the marital residence.  The divorce trial took place in 2019 before Judge Joseph A. Woodruff.

The wife was granted the divorce and divided the marital property.  The wife’s proposed parenting plan was adopted, and she was allowed to relocate to Mississippi.  She was also awarded over $216,000 in alimony in solido, as well as transitional alimony of $2,500 per month for 60 months.  A large portion of the solido award was intended to serve as an equalizing distribution of the marital estate.  The husband than appealed various issues, including the alimony, to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

After addressing the parenting issues and division of the marital estate, the appeals court, in an opinion authored by Judge Arnold B. Goldin, turned to the issue of alimony.  On this issue, the husband first argued that the amount of transitional alimony should be modified.  The appeals court looked at the statutory factors and agreed with the husband that these factors had not been applied correctly.  The appeals court agreed with the lower court that transitional alimony was called for, but had concerns with the period of time over which the alimony would be paid and the amount.  In particular, the appeals court found that the lower court had not properly defined the wife’s need for alimony.  In particular, it failed to properly account for the award of child support.  The appeals court therefore remanded the case for a recalculation of the proper amount.

The wife asked for attorney fees on appeal.  Even though the husband won a partial victory on the alimony issue, the appeals court held that many of his arguments on other issues lacked any basis.  Therefore, the court awarded these fees, and asked the lower court to calculate the correct amount.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded the case.

No. M2019-00767-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 30,  2020).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Alimony Law in Tennessee.