After 30 Yr Marriage TN Wife Wants $8,000 /mo. Alimony But Gets $4,000
Tennessee alimony law case summary following 30 years of marriage. Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Diane Marie Depietto Guiliano v. Anthony Philip Guiliano – Tennessee Alimony In Futuro – 30 years of marriage.
In the divorce of Diane Guiliano and Anthony Guiliano, the court ruled both parties guilty of inappropriate conduct and divorced them. 55 percent of the marital property went to the wife and 45 percent to the husband. The court awarded the wife with alimony in futuro for $4,000 per month. The wife appealed the decision.
The parties married in 1976. At the time of the trial, the husband was 56 years old and the wife was 55 years old. They had two adult children. The wife had not worked outside of the home since the time of the first child’s birth. In 2003, the wife was diagnosed with Chronic Leukemia, which is in remission. The parties agree that the marriage was not good for a long time. They separate in June of 2006 when the wife found the husband was having an extramarital affair.
In July of 2007, the parties entered a consent order providing that the husband would pay temporary support in the amount of $9,000 per month. In March of 2007, the husband petitioned the court to sell the marital home stating they were approaching a financial crisis. The wife had no desire to remain there as the home was 6,400 square feet and valued at $900,000.
The trial court heard the case in August of 2007. It ordered the husband to pay alimony in futuro of $4,000 per month. The wife appealed this decision claiming the trial court should have awarded her $8,000 per month. The appeals court noted that the husband did not object to an award of alimony and thus used evidence in the case to determine if the amount was accurate.
The husband’s gross salary is $250,000 per year. He earns $125,000 per year from Crown Labs and a bonus of $30,000 per year. In addition, he earns $100,000 per year from APG Marketing International, LLC as a partner, according to the wife. The wife states the husband’s ability to pay alimony for $8,000 is demonstrated because he had the ability to pay $9,000 per month in temporary support.
The husband said he worked for Crown Labs in 2005 after the failure of APG. He claims the wife did not take into account that he was no longer with APG and that she was adding his income from Crown Labs with that of APG when he was not earning it together. He claimed he was paying the $9,000 in temporary support while the matter was litigated out of the parties’ joint expenses and he was living rent-free in the employer’s basement.
The appeals court noted that the trial court made well-considered findings in the case. It found that the husband had the earning capacity of $175,000 per year and that the wife’s earning capacity was $25,000 to $40,000 per year. There, the appeals court ruled to affirm the lower court’s decision on the award noting it did not make an error in its award.
No. W2007-02752-COA-R3-CV, October 15, 2008.
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
