7 Yrs TN Husband to Pay $2,500/Mo x30 Mos Transitional Alimony Divorce
Tennessee alimony law case summary after 7 years married. Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Cheryl L. Montgomery v. Steven Silberman – Tennessee Alimony Laws – 7 years of marriage.
In the case of Montgomery vs. Silberman, the husband appealed a lower court’s decision of the award of transitional alimony claiming it was excessive. He claims the award, when combined with the pendente lite alimony resulted in a total amount that was longer than the marriage. The husband also claimed the wife did not establish a need for the alimony.
The parties married on June of 2001 and separated in August of 2005. The couple had two children and lives separately. The original decree awarded the wife alimony in the amount of $1,150 per month and child support at $2,109 per month. Neither party sought to dissolve the marriage, initially but later, upon moving from Maryland to Tennessee, did so in October of 2007, ending their seven year marriage. In February 2009, the court awarded marital property and assets separately and set the transitional alimony for the wife at $2,500 per month for 30 months.
The wife had full-time employment through the Tennessee Technological University since 2007 earning $54,000 per year. The husband’s income was in excess of $150,000, though there is no note of his specific career.
In the appeal, the court determined that the difference in income between the husband and wife and the gap in the wife’s financial needs to her income, the award of alimony was appropriate. The husband’s claim is that the court wrongfully ruled because it based the marriage on seven years, and in the consideration of alimony, the court should not have considered the period of separation and the final divorce hearing. He contended that the period of 40 months in between the separation in 2005 and the final hearing in 2009 that the wife should have used that period, along with the pendente lite alimony provided by the husband during this time to re-establish her life.
In the appeals decision, the court notes there was no reason provided for why the two did not dissolve the marriage prior to the date. In addition, there was no information indicating that the wife’s award of pendente lite alimony was for transitional use. Under Tennessee code, the trial court ruled the marriage length as seven years. The trial court also considered the short length of the marriage when it considered and declined to provide, alimony in futuro. As a result, the appeals court upheld the decision of the lower court.
A secondary claim from the husband was that the amount of alimony was not supported by evidence in that the wife did not demonstrate a need for the funds. In its record, the court noted the wife’s need of $8,777.80 and net income of $3,843.08. The appeals court ruled that there was no abuse of award in this alimony claim.
Appeal from Chancery Court of Putnam County, Tennessee.
No. M2009-00853-COA-R3-CV, Filed November 24, 2009.
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.
