Tennessee Wife Married Two Years Wins Transitional Alimony

Tennessee law case summary on contempt and transitional alimony divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  Note: this is the second summary of this case on the blog.

Caroline Tippens-Florea v Johnathan Matthew Florea – Tennessee Divorce & Contempt – 3 Years Married

Caroline Tippens-Florea, the wife, and Johnathan Matthew Florea, the husband, were married in June 2007.  The wife was twenty-two years old, with a B.A. degree in Sociology.   The husband was twenty-seven years

old, had a B.A. degree in Electromechanical Engineering Technology and worked as an engineer for Hacket Precision Company (HPC).  In 2007, the husband earned $87,000, in 2008 he earned $108,000 and in 2009 he earned $96,000.  The wife started law school in August 2007, paid for her own tuition and worked as an administrative assistant in a law firm, earning $36,000 a year.

 In June 2009, the wife filed for divorce following the complete breakdown of the marriage.  In July 2009, the husband was awarded the marital residence and ordered to pay $500 a month in temporary support to the wife until the case was decided.  The final divorce decree was issued in January 2011 and the wife was awarded transitional alimony in the amount of $500 a month for 12 months and $15,000 alimony in solido for legal fees.   The husband appealed the award of transitional alimony.

Appeal denied: transitional alimony for 1 year

On appeal, the husband argued that the wife was not entitled to any alimony because of the short length of the marriage, the support he paid during the divorce proceedings and because of the wife’s earning potential following her completion of law school.  The appeals court denied his appeal.  The court held that many factors go into an alimony determination, including age, health and education of the parties, relative earning capacity, obligations, financial resources, duration of the marriage and more.  The two most important factors for the court to consider are the disadvantaged or weaker spouse’s need and the obligor spouse’s ability to pay.

The appeals court found that the lower court correctly weighed the factors in this case.  The wife had a need for alimony in order to help cover her living and educational expenses until she completed her law degree in July 2011, at which time she would obtain a higher paying job.  The husband showed that he had the ability to pay, based on his low expenses, good income and the fact that during the divorce proceedings he paid back thousands of dollars of his own debts, contributed to his retirement savings and engaged in expensive hobbies.  All the while, he was able to put aside money for savings.              Transitional alimony was the correct award in this case.  The goal of transitional alimony is to provide support to enable the disadvantaged spouse time to adjust to the changed circumstances.  In this case, the alimony met that goal by providing the wife short-term income until she completed her studies.  The court found that the wife needed “a small amount of support, for a limited amount of time, in order to adjust to the reality” of paying her own rent and tuition while she finished school.

No. M2011-00408-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. May 31, 2012).

For more information about divorce planning, download our free e-Book, Your First Steps: 7 Steps Planning Your Tennessee Divorce or, purchase The Tennessee Divorce Client’s Handbook: What Every Divorcing Spouse Needs to Know, available on Amazon and Kindle. Memphis divorce attorney, Miles Mason, Sr., practices family law exclusively and is founder of the Miles Mason Family Law Group, PLC. To schedule your confidential consultation, call us today at (901) 683-1850.