Scheduled on the Tennessee Supreme Court’s late spring docket is a case that many believe could change the way that alimony is awarded in TN, a New York Family Lawyer read recently. The case that is receiving the focus is a divorce case that has been seen a divorced couple embattled in the courts since 2007.
At the time of the couple’s divorce, the appeals court ordered the man to pay $1,250 in alimony each month to his ex-wife of 21 years. At the time of their 2009 divorce, her salary was $72,000 and his was $137,000. Other sources have stated that the type of alimony that was awarded in this case is typically reserved for another situation that includes the woman having sacrificed her career for her family, is over the age of 50, and is unable to find a job that can pay her enough to maintain her current lifestyle.
While the opinions on whether a lifetime alimony award should remain in place varies, the underlying principle behind alimony is to ensure that the remaining family members do not have to needlessly suffer simply because one of the marital partners decides they no longer desire to continue in the relationship. There are also varying opinions as to if someone should be forced to pay alimony for the lifetime of the other partner, or until that person should decide to remarry. As a Nassau County Family Lawyer was also told, this is what the man who is party in the above-mentioned divorce is arguing. Part of his argument is that his ex-wife may never remarry simply because she would want the alimony payments to continue.
On the other side of the issue is the argument for these types of alimony to continue. The woman’s lawyer from the divorce case before the TN Supreme Court states that it was his infidelity that caused the marriage to break up and that she he should continue to pay for that.
The court is due to hear arguments from both side when they take up the case, and will likely consider the ex-wife’s need to continue her lifestyle that she had during the marriage, and the ex-husband’s ability to pay.
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