$1,500 / Mo for 60 Mos Alimony Awarded to TN Wife of 19 Yrs To Army Husband

Tennessee alimony law case summary following 19 years of marriage.  Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Rodney K Matthews v. Sophia D Matthews – Tennessee Alimony Laws – 19 years married.

After a marriage of almost 20 years, the trial court awarded the wife in this case, Sophia Matthews, with divorce and awarded the wife temporary alimony. The husband, Rodney Matthews, appealed the decision. The parties marred in July of 1989 and had a daughter in 1990. The husband was an active duty solider with the US Army throughout the marriage. Due to deployments, the parties were often separated for long periods.

The husband confessed in April of 2000 that he had an extramarital affair with a military subordinate. The wife said he said it happened only twice and that the couple agreed to work through it. The marriage struggled from that point. The husband was deployed to Japan in 2001 and the wife remained in the US. He returned for a visit in 2002 and brought with him anger. He also accused the wife of infidelity and scared the child. A year later, he threatened to take the daughter if the wife did not join him overseas. The argument became physical. The wife filed an order of protection.

The couple separated and he was ordered to pay mortgage and insurance payments by the court. He did not pay child support from August of 2003 through March of 2008. The court then entered pendente lite child support. When the daughter was 17, she gave birth to a baby boy who also resided in the marital home. The husband continued to pay the mortgage and auto insurance but did not provide any additional fees.

In the trial, the wife testified she worked for the Tennessee Department of Education starting in 1999. Her gross income ranged from $23,316 in 2002 to $27,619 in 2008. She stated her income was not enough to cover expenses and that she needed to use credit cards to cover the difference. The husband’s attorney provided a statement that the husband’s gross monthly wages were $6,319 in September of 2008, with a net take home pay of $5,432. He listed expenses totally $5,760, creating a deficit. Of these expenses, there was a $600 in tithes and offering and $1,500 in personal loans. The creditors were not identified.

The husband retired from services in January of 2009, with a 28-year military career. He was entitled to both a pension and free, lifetime healthcare. The wife noted that if he had waited an additional six months, the wife would have qualified to be a 20/20 spouse, meaning she would have qualified to receive free lifetime health and dental care.

The lower court awarded the wife alimony for $1,500 per month for 60 months and $5,000 to help to pay for attorney fees. At the time of the divorce, the husband was 45 years old. The appeals court ruled that the husband had the ability to earn money and that he received a significant retirement pay. The wife attended junior college for two years and worked as an administrative secretary. Her economic circumstances are significantly less.

The appeals court ruled that the trial court did not err in awarding the wife alimony. The award was to help the wife to transition to the status of a single person. Though the trial court did not specifically say the alimony was transitional, the appeals court believed it to be and upheld the lower court’s ruling.

NO M2009-00413-COA-R3-CV, April 28, 2010.

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more about alimony, read Tennessee Alimony Law in Divorce | Answers to FAQs.  Also, see the MemphisDivorce.com Tennessee Family Law Blog and its Alimony category.

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.  Download our free e-Book, Your First Steps: 7 Steps Planning Your Tennessee Divorce. A Memphis family law attorney from the Miles Mason Family Law Group can help with Tennessee divorce and alimony issues. Contact an attorney today at (901) 683-1850.