Tennessee Ex-Wife’s Remarriage Does Not Terminate Periodic Alimony

Tennessee alimony modification law case summary following wife’s remarriage from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Kathy Lynn Averitte v. William Ronny Averitte – Tennessee divorce alimony modification

The husband and wife were divorced in February 2011, and the final decree called upon the husband to pay alimony of $1,200 per month.  The wife remarried in August of that same year, and the husband filed a motion to terminate his alimony obligation.  Neither the decree nor the marital dissolution agreement specified whether alimony would terminate upon remarriage.  However, the decree did refer to the alimony as “periodic alimony.”  The husband pointed to a Tennessee Statute under which “periodic alimony” terminates automatically and unconditionally upon the remarriage of the recipient.

The wife argued that the marital dissolution agreement “mistakenly” used the word periodic, and argued that the alimony was actually alimony in solido, and that under Tennessee law, alimony in solido does not terminate upon remarriage.  The trial court agreed with the husband, and terminated the alimony obligation.  The wife appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and remanded the case.  The Court of Appeals stated that it was the nature of the alimony payment that was controlling.  It did note that alimony in solido can be paid in installments, and the mere fact that it is paid in installments is not the deciding factor.  Instead, the Court of Appeals found that the most important factor is the definiteness or indefiniteness of the amount to be paid.

In this case, the Court noted that the amount was to be paid over a certain amount of time (84 months).  Therefore, the amount to be paid was definite and ascertainable at the time of the divorce by simple arithmetic.

The Court of Appeals also held that the use of the word “periodic” in the original agreement was not controlling.  While those words were relevant facts to consider, they were not controlling.

The Court of Appeals also found that there was insufficient evidence to indicate that the property division had been otherwise equal, as the husband had asserted.

For these reasons, the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case with instructions for the trial court to deny the husband’s motion.

No. M2012-00738-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Jan. 29, 2013).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, read Tennessee Alimony Modification Law | How to Modify Alimony in TN.  Also, for legal updates, news, analysis, and commentary, see our Tennessee Family Law Blog and its Alimony category.  A Memphis divorce lawyer from the Miles Mason Family Law Group can help.  To schedule your confidential consultation, call us today at (901) 683-1850.