Tenn Wife Earning $35K /Yr Awarded $450 /Mo 3 Yrs Transitional Alimony
Tennessee alimony law case summary following 14 years of marriage. Tennessee divorce and family law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
Janet Hughes Moore v Barry Pierce Moore – Tennessee Alimony Law – 14 years married.
In the marriage of Janet Moore and Barry Moore, an appeals court was asked to rule on the lower court’s award of periodic alimony to the wife for $650 per month until she reaches the age of 62. The trial court divorced the parties and the husband appealed the decision of the trial court’s award noting that an award of transitional alimony of $450 was proper instead.
In this case, the parties married in August of 1992. During the marriage, the wife had one minor child from a prior marriage whom the husband later adopted. The marriage lasted 14 years. The wife filed for divorce in January of 2006. The wife was 49 at the time of the divorce and the husband was 54. The wife was employed at Cigna Government Services where she had been employed for the last 16 years. At the time of the divorce hearing, the wife earned $35,099.66 per year. In addition, she received $66.15 per week as child support from the biological father of the daughter.
The husband held employment since 1994 with Ford Motor Credit and earned an annual salary of $70,027.44. The parties owned various joint properties but the marital home was sold prior to the divorce hearing. Each party received half of the sale price. In child support guidelines, the husband was required to pay $633 per month until May 2007 when the daughter would reach 18 years of age. The trial court also awarded the wife periodic alimony of $650 per month which would continue through September of 2019 when the wife reached age 62.
The husband asked the appeals court to modify the alimony award. The trial court found a disparity in economic positions between the parties and their earning capacity. It found the wife to be economically disadvantaged. The wife testified she was healthy and the husband is not in good health. The wife noted she did not seek advancement within her position because she wanted to spend time with her minor child. The wife’s monthly income, including child support from the biological father was $2,400 and she had expenses of $2,965 leaving a deficit of $600. Some of these expenses included expenses for the child who is no longer a minor.
The husband’s monthly income is $4,700.30. He claimed the award of $650 exceeded his income. The trial court’s award, the appeals court found, was above the ability of the husband to pay. Still, it stated an award of transitional alimony was in order and thus modified it to periodic alimony and awarded transitional alimony for $450 per month for three years.
No. M2006-02624-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Mar. 19, 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
