50 Year Old TN Husband Earned $28K Must Pay $200/mo Alimony in Futuro
Tennessee alimony law case summary following 14 years of marriage. Divorce and alimony law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Rickie B. Clayton v. Rosie B. Clayton – Tennessee Alimony Law – 14 years married.
In the divorce case of Rickie Clayton and Rosie Clayton, of a marriage which lasted 14 years and bore two children, a lower court awarded custody of the minor children to the mother and required the father to pay $200 per month in alimony in futuro to the mother. The father appealed this decision. The parties married in April of 1993 and separated March 2003, ending their marriage. The father filed for divorce in October of 2003 alleging irreconcilable differences and inappropriate martial conduct, including the fact that the mother falsely accused the father of sexually assaulting the oldest daughter.
Additional complaints from the father include the mother reporting to police that he raped the oldest daughter constituting cruel and unusual punishment. He also claimed the mother refused to work and spent the last several years pursuing a college degree. The mother admitted that irreconcilable differences existed but denied any inappropriate martial conduct and alleged the father was guilty of the same. She noted the allegations of rape came after a report from the school. She said the father depleted marital assets and refused to provide support.
At the time of the trial, the mother was 50 years old. Prior to the marriage she worked in a day care and then at Walgreens. The mother returned to college to achieve a degree in social work in August of 2003. The mother then worked for a children’s home but that business closed. With her degree, the mother stated she could only make $7 per hour unless she obtained a license, but she did not have enough background to do that. At the time of the trial, the mother was working as a substitute teacher making $85 per day and earned between $11,000 and $13,000 the prior year.
At the time of the trial the father was 50 years old and worked at the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center for the previous 15 years. His 2005 gross income was $23,000 and in 2006, he earned $28,333. The father admitted that during the previous 2 ½ years, he did not call to inquire about the children and the mother testified that he never asked to see the children in the previous four years.
The father contended that the trial court erred in awarding the mother the $200 in alimony in futuro arguing that the mother has a greater earning capacity than the father and that she is voluntarily underemployed because she did not want to become a licensed social worker or full-time school teacher. The chancellor in the lower court noted that he saw no evidence that the mother was underemployed and the mother is attempting to obtain better employment. The parties were legally married for 14 years. The mother has a significant need for support and the father has the ability to pay. Therefore, the appeals court saw no abuse in the award to the other and upheld it.
No. W2007-01079-COA-R3-CV, Filed May 21, 2008.
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
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