Husband to Pay Alimony After Financial Duplicity and Alcohol Abuse

The parties in this Williamson County, Tennessee, case met in Michigan, and moved to Tennessee in 2014, after the husband was offered a position with his father’s company overseeing operations in the region.  They married in 2014 and bought a house in Tennessee.  They had one child, who was born in 2018, and the wife worked part-time after the birth of the child.  The husband left the marital residence in 2021, and filed for divorce.  The wife also filed a counterclaim for divorce.

A hearing was held in 2022, and the trial court issued a fifty-page order with its findings and conclusions.  In particular, the trial court found that the husband lacked credibility, and that his testimony changed to meet the exigencies of the circumstances.

The court found that the husband had understated his income, and colluded with his father to draw a lower salary while the divorce was pending.  It noted that he had access to a company credit card, which he often used for personal expenses.  It called this a “fraud on the court” to avoid obligations to the wife.  It noted that the husband benefited from a company car, insurance, meals and entertainment, all of which were paid for by the company.  The trial court also found that the husband suffered from untreated alcohol addiction.

It found the husband’s earning capacity to be five times that of the wife.  It awarded the divorce to the wife, based upon inappropriate marital conduct of the husband’s financial duplicity.  The estate was divided $238,000 to the wife and $151,000 to the husband, and the wife was awarded child support of $1190 per month.  The husband was also ordered to pay all work-related childcare, amounting to $1624 per month.

The trial court also awarded the wife transitional alimony of $2000 per month for four years, followed by $1500 per month for two years, and $500 per month for two years.  It awarded her an additional $50,000 alimony in solido and $75,000 toward her attorney fees, which exceeded $116,000.  The husband then appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The husband first argued that the finding of alcohol addiction was not supported by the evidence.

The appeals court began the husband’s history with a conviction of vehicular homicide in Michigan before the parties met.  The husband had pleaded guilty and received probation, one condition of which was that he abstain from drinking.  But when the husband relocated to Tennessee, he resumed drinking.  The appeals court outlined numerous cases of his drinking, many of which included driving after drinking.

After reviewing the evidence, the appeals court affirmed the lower court’s finding.

On the child support issue, the appeals court was unable to determine whether the lower court had properly given the husband credit for some of the childcare expenses.  For that reason, it remanded on this issue for clarification of how the lower court had made the computation.

 The appeals court then turned to the question of alimony.  It pointed out that shortly after leaving the family home, the husband’s father leased a luxury apartment, with no indication that the husband would be obligated to pay the rent.  The appeals court reiterated that the husband’s earning capacity was much higher, and that he stood to take over his father’s successful business.

The husband did get some relief, in that the appeals court found that the alimony for the first two years, when coupled with the childcare expense, might exceed the husband’s ability to pay.  Therefore, it vacated this portion of the order and remanded for possible modification.  But in all other respects, it affirmed the lower court’s order.  It also affirmed the award of attorney fees.  However, it denied both parties’ requests for attorney fees on appeal.

No. M2022-01299-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 29, 2024).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, see Alimony Law in Tennessee, and our video, How is alimony decided in Tennessee?