Tn Wife 7 Yrs Married to OB/GYN Gets $2K/Mox4 Yrs Transitional Alimomy

Tennessee alimony law case summary following 7 years of marriage. Divorce and alimony law from the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

Kevin Lee Fulford v. Tricia Lynn Fulford – Tennessee Alimony Law – 7 years married.

Dr. Kevin Fulford and Tricia Fulford married in January of 1999 in California. This was the wife’s second marriage and the husband’s first. The parties had one child born in December of 1999 and the wife has a child from the previous marriage. The parties moved to Tennessee in 2001 and the father practiced in an OB/GYN group while the mother stayed at home with the children even though the mother is a nurse and sought part-time work on the father’s days off. However, since the father refused to watch the children on his days off, the mother did not work.

The husband testified to having sexual compulsive issues and the mother demanded he seek therapy In May of 2004, the wife filed for divorce, though they tried to reconcile if the husband sought help for his sexual addiction. The children and mother moved in July of 2005 with the plan the husband would move when he found a job. They could not make the relationship work and separated in December of 2005. The father filed for divorce in January of 2006 after seven years of marriage citing irreconcilable differences and the wife’s inappropriate marital conduct.

The trial court awarded the mother $1,000 a month in rehabilitative alimony beginning in February 2006, in addition to requiring the father to pay the credit card bill, insurance expenses and rental expenses for the wife’s home. This was later changed to award the mother with $4,000 per month in rehabilitative alimony for four years based on the husband’s ability to pay noting the wife was economically disadvantaged.

The father appealed the alimony saying the trial court abused its discretion. The appeals court overturned this ruling noting they did not believe the award was appropriate. This was based on the fact the record is devoid of any evidence related to the wife’s plan for rehabilitation. However, the appeals court did not agree that the wife was not entitled to any alimony award. Rather, it awarded transitional alimony.

To come to this conclusion, the appeals court noted that neither party had substantial marital assets to divide and that the father’s earning capacity was much higher than the mother’s. The appeals court reduced the amount of the alimony payments to $2,000 a month in transitional alimony for the period of four years. This took into account the bankruptcy proceeding the father was undertaking and his ability to pay.

No. M2006-02625-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Apr. 22, 2008).

See original opinion for exact language.  Legal citations omitted.

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