TN Wife Awarded Alimony For Very Short Marriage After Meeting Online

Tennessee alimony law case summary following 1 year of marriage. Divorce and alimony law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Damon Gorbet v. Tiffany Gorbet – Tennessee divorce alimony after one year married.

The husband and wife met through an online dating service in 2009, and were married in 2010.  Prior to the marriage, the wife lived in a home she owned near Little Rock, Arkansas, with her 12-year-old daughter from previous marriage, and worked as a quality management analyst for a hospital.  The husband lived in Jackson, Tennessee, and owned a construction company, Gorbet Construction, LLC, which constructed custom homes.  The husband owned four parcels of property, which were being held for future construction and sale.

Before the wedding, they had picked out a home in Jackson.  The closing on the new home took place a few weeks before the wedding.  Only the husband attended the closing, and the deed was in his name only.  The wife put her Arkansas home on the market after the wedding, but the marriage crumbled before she was able to sell the house.

Less than nine months after the wedding, the husband moved out of the family home and filed for divorce.  Both parties filed a petition asking for exclusive use of the home.  The trial court held a hearing and granted the wife’s petition, allowing her exclusive use of the house.  The trial court awarded $2055 per month in temporary alimony and ordered the husband to pay all expenses associated with the house.

The husband alleged at trial that the wife was erratic, explosive, and abusive, and that her yelling and screaming frightened his daughter from a previous marriage.  He testified that he once had to lock himself in a bathroom to get away from her, and that she kicked a hole in the bathroom door.  He also testified that she once trashed his home office.  He provided two cell phone video recordings of her behavior as evidence at trial.  The wife admitted to these emotional outbursts, but testified that the husband provoked them by physical abuse.  The husband also admitted to an extramarital affair, and that he had taken his paramour on out-of-town trips.

At one point, the wife had opened a bank account in her own name, purporting to do business as Gorbet Construction.  The husband testified that she had improperly deposited some checks made out to the company into this account.  When asked about this at trial, the wife asserted her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself.

There was a dispute as to whether the wife worked for the husband’s business.  She testified that he had wanted her to help the business.  But the husband testified that she only helped a few times with isolated tasks.

The wife testified that at her former job for the Arkansas hospital, she had worked herself up the ranks to a position paying $32,000 per year.  After the separation, however, she called the hospital and was told that there was a hiring freeze, and that she couldn’t return to her former job.

The trial court determined that the new home, one of the properties owned for future construction, and the husband’s life insurance policy were marital property.  The trial court awarded the wife 42% of the marital home, 50% of the other property, and 30% of the husband’s insurance policy.  The trial court also awarded transitional alimony for two years–$1,700 per month the first year, and $750 per month the second year.  The trial court determined that the marriage had been short, but the wife needed these funds to bridge the gap until she could reestablish herself in Arkansas.  The trial court also awarded her $2500 in moving expenses.  The husband appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision.  It acknowledged that this had been a very short marriage.  But the Court of Appeals agreed with the trial court that this factor was outweighed by the fact that the wife had moved from Arkansas to Tennessee and left a stable job that was now no longer available.  Particularly because the trial court must determine the credibility of the witnesses, this was within the trial court’s discretion.

The Court of Appeals also agreed that the trial court had correctly classified the property as being marital property.  As for the home, the fact that the parties had lived there was a more important factor than the fact that it was titled in the husband’s name only.

Since the business property was purchased during the marriage with marital funds, the Court of Appeals also agreed that this property was properly marital property.  Similarly, because the life insurance policy was converted to a whole-life policy during the marriage, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s determination that this was marital property.

No. W2011-01879-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct 11, 2012).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

To learn more, read Tennessee Alimony Law in Divorce | Answers to FAQs.  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.