TN Wife Receives Wife Alimony in Futuro $2500 /mo After 29 Yrs Married
Tennessee alimony law case summary following 29 years of marriage. Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Sharon Kay Jackson v Randall D. Jackson – Tennessee Alimony Law – 29 years of marriage.
In the divorce case of Sharon Jackson and Randall Jackson, the husband appealed the award of alimony to the wife after a long-term marriage. The parties married in August of 1974 and had three children, all of whom were adults at the time of the trial. At the time of the divorce, the wife was 54 years old and the husband was 53. The husband had a college degree and worked for 10 to 15 years as a sales engineer for several telecommunications and communications-internet industry positions. In 2002, his income was $125,600 per year. In May of 2003, he lost his job after the industry fell through. Working as a self-employed individual as an independent contractor for Tax Break, LLC, he showed $6,196 in monthly expenses and $308 in income.
The wife was a high school graduate and had some college education. The parties agreed she would be a homemaker and care for the children during the marriage. She worked part-time at times. In the late 80’s, she sold real estate for a period and sold prepaid insurance for a year. The parties had two rental properties, both of which were managed by the wife. At the time of the divorce, the wife was self-employed, cleaned homes and earned $720 per month with monthly expenses of $4,191.
The parties had substantial amounts of real property but also had a large IRS debt of $180,000. The couple separated in 1997 and filed for divorce at that time, but reconciled in 1998. On May 2003, the wife filed for divorce alleging adultery, inappropriate marital conduct, and irreconcilable differences. The husband counterclaimed the wife was guilty of inappropriate marital conduct and abandonment.
The trial court heard testimony about the employment status and earning capacity of each. The records indicated the husband lost his sales engineering position nine days after the wife filed for divorce in May of 2003. At the time, the husband obtained an offer for employment for a position paying $80,000 a year with up to $150,000 possible with bonuses. However, he claimed the employment offer was withdrawn when the company learned of the wife’s divorce claim concerned adultery. Another offer was received paying him $90,000 in salary plus commissions, though it was also withdrawn because he was unable to obtain a copy of his military discharge certificate. He also noted he experienced back problems in August of 2003 and underwent a second procedure that year. He had not found additional, regular employment.
At the time of the trial, the wife was earning money performing cleaning services making about $1,000 per month. She also stated she had health problems, which made it difficult for her to clean houses. Retirement and investment accounts, as well as the sale of property allowed the parties to live. The wife said, at the time of the trial, she was receiving food stamps.
The trial court declared the parties divorced. Through difficulty understanding who was at fault, the court required each party to pay half of the IRS debt, ordered rental properties sold and divided other debt. It also found the husband’s reasons for not being employed were not good enough and concluded he was underemployed. The trial court found the wife to be economical disadvantaged. As such, it awarded $2,500 in alimony from the date of separation through July 2005. It ordered the husband to pay $62,500 in alimony pendente lite and transitional alimony for five years in the amount of $2,500 per month.
In the appeal, the husband claimed error the award of transitional alimony to the wife. The wife stated the trial court erred in awarding her spousal support for five years and stated she should be given alimony in futuro or at least until she reaches retirement. The husband believes the wife should not get any award.
The appeals court noted first the claim of the type of award. It was a long-term marriage and the wife earned $720 per month cleaning. She did not have a college degree and limited work experience. It stated the husband had clear marketable skills and an earning capacity of $145,000 per year. It noted the wife was not likely to earn significantly more. It was concerned that after the period of five years, the wife would still be unable to support herself and, thusly, ruled that the alimony in futuro was appropriate. It also ruled that the amount of alimony was acceptable.
NO. W2006-00182-COA-R3-CV, February 22, 2007.
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
Memphis divorce lawyer, Miles Mason, Sr. practices family law exclusively and is the founder of the Miles Mason Family Law Group, PLC, which handles Tennessee family law matters including divorce, alimony, alimony modification, child support, and child support modification. Also, see the MemphisDivorce.com Tennessee Family Law Blog and its Alimony category. Also, download the free e-Book, Your First Steps: 7 Steps Planning Your Tennessee Divorce.
