17 Yrs Married Alimony Awards | 3 TN Cases Compared

17 Year Marriage Alimony Awards Compared in Tennessee alimony divorce cases.  Post compares 2 court cases on alimony listing key factors found by Court to be most important by Memphis divorce lawyer Miles Mason, Sr.

Courts in Tennessee award alimony payments to assist economically disadvantaged spouses after divorce. For many years, only women were awarded alimony payments. As females gained educational and occupational opportunities equal to those of males, courts began awarding alimony payments to both spouses.

In Tennessee, there are four types of alimony payments: alimony in futuro (sometimes also called periodic alimony), transitional alimony, rehabilitative alimony, and alimony in solido. Each serves different and distinct purposes.

In futuro, or “in the future” alimony payments are made until the seeking spouse dies or is remarried. These payments are typically awarded after long-term marriages. In futuro alimony may be compared to transitional alimony, which lasts only for a limited time period and is awarded to help the seeking spouse become self-sufficient.

To determine what type of payment to award, the court will look at a number of statutory factors, including:

• Each spouse’s income
• Earning capacity
• Financial resources
• Education
• Age
• Standard of living
• Physical and mental condition
• Extent to which each party made contributions to the marriage and household
• The relative fault of each party in the divorce

Consider two cases that illustrate the ways these factors influenced the alimony awards of couples that were married for 17 years:

In Ford v. Ford, the trial court awarded in futuro alimony payments to the wife at $1,800 a month for the first two years; $1,500 a month for the following three years, and $1,000 a month thereafter. The appellate court reduced the award to $1,450 per month in futuro until Mrs. Ford’s death or remarriage. [Ford v. Ford, 952 S.W.2d 824 (Tenn. Ct. App., 1996)]. At the time of the divorce, Mr. Ford earned $91,700 per year working full-time as the vice-president of operations at a steel company. Mrs. Ford married Mr. Ford right out of high school, and never received any form of higher education. She only worked part-time at a sales job for a brief period during the marriage. After the divorce, Mrs. Ford worked part-time at an eye clinic and made little more than minimum wage. The divorce was largely caused by Mr. Ford’s numerous extramarital affairs. Mrs. Ford’s lack of educational and occupational prospects, Mr. Ford’s high income, and Mr. Ford’s fault in the divorce persuaded the court to award Mrs. Ford with alimony payments until death or remarriage.

Compare the Fords to the Gordons. In Gordon v. Gordon, the appellate court reversed the trial court’s award of alimony in futuro at $2,200 per month, and instead ordered that the wife would receive transitional alimony payments of $2,200 per month for only 24 months. [Gordon v. Gordon, No. E2010-00392-COA-R3-CV, 2010 WL 4244345 (Tenn. Ct. App., 2010)]. Both Mrs. Gordon and Mr. Gordon were pilots, but Mrs. Gordon was unemployed during part of the marriage because of a Valium prescription she was given for a mental breakdown. At the time of the divorce, Mr. Gordon earned $10,000 per month. Mrs. Gordon was off of her medication, possessed a college degree, was employed as a personal trainer, and was still licensed as a pilot. Neither party alleged marital infidelity. The court determined that Mrs. Gordon, who was educated and employable, was not in need of in futuro payments. She merely needed temporary assistance from Mr. Gordon to adjust to the economic realities of divorce.

The contrasting results in these two cases illustrate the ways a court will decide whether independence is a truly viable option after 17 years of marriage. Tennessee law shows a preference for rehabilitation over dependence in awarding alimony payments. However, if a spouse seeking alimony after 17 years has limited educational and occupational experience, Tennessee courts are more likely to award long-term payments.