First, there is statutory law created by the Tennessee Legislature. These statutes define the four types of alimony, direct courts as to when alimony should be paid, length of payments, amount of payments, under what circumstances alimony can be modified, and whether alimony terminates automatically or can be eliminated by application to a court. The alimony statutes provide the important definitions, factors, circumstances, and restrictions under which alimony can be owed and paid.
Following this appeal as of right, either party may ask the Supreme Court of Tennessee to hear the case. The Supreme Court chooses whether or not it will hear the appeal. As a practical matter, the Supreme Court of Tennessee hears only a relatively small percentage of cases seeking consideration. When an appellate court makes a decision, it issues a ruling in the form of a written legal opinion.
Some opinions are published and have binding effect on trial courts while others are not published. Some decisions are memorandum opinions, designated as such because they have no binding legal affect but are often instructive.
Lawyers and judges consult legal opinions for guidance, interpretation, and explanation. The devil is in the details, and these appellate opinions contain the important details on how alimony works in Tennessee. So basically, everything is considered with alimony. Appellate courts often say that need and ability to pay are the two most important considerations.
Expenses include housing costs, food, clothing, debts, and general living expenses. As with determining ability to pay alimony, the court looks at the financial situation of the supported spouse. Education, historical earnings, and ability to earn following retraining, or attaining some additional education or training, are considered.
Second, the court considers the projected expenses of the supported spouse. The reasonable need of the supported spouse is his or her earning capacity less projected expenses.
While this may be a very subjective determination, the evidence presented can be diverse. When projecting a range of how much a party will pay or receive in alimony, experienced attorneys consider the statutory factors, prior experience with the judge and the other attorney, and written legal opinions for couples in similar financial situations and lengths of marriage.
Any projection is just an educated guess and should never be considered a guarantee. Prior to settlement negotiations, your experienced family law attorney will be able to advise you about a range of outcomes the court may award. If settlement negotiations fail following mediation, then the case heads to trial. For legal opinions on Tennessee alimony exemplifying various lengths of marriages, see our Tennessee Family Law Blog and its Tennessee Alimony category.
You will find divorce case law summaries grouped by length of years married, as follows:. Tennessee law lists factors for consideration. Only a few states have strict formulas. Tennessee does not. While Tennessee law does list factors, there is no strict formula or alimony calculator similar to the child support guidelines. That will depend upon the type of alimony, purpose of the award, and disparity in earning capacity between the spouses.
For example, transitional alimony is designed to help a spouse transition from marriage to becoming self-supporting. Rehabilitative alimony will be awarded if a spouse needs support, but is capable of earning enough money to live, first, at a standard of living close to that enjoyed during the marriage or, second, to the lifestyle projected to be enjoyed by the other spouse after divorce.
Long-term alimony is described as alimony in futuro, or periodic alimony. Before alimony in futuro is awarded, however, a court must determine that the supported spouse is incapable of being rehabilitated. As a practical matter, most divorces are settled. Which means that, in a vast majority of divorces, the type, length, and amount of alimony is negotiated. The negotiated amount may result from informal negotiations or mediation and is consensual.
When a divorce case is not settled, the spouses will proceed to trial. At trial, the judge hears evidence based on all of the statutory factors and decides the type of alimony awarded, length of term of payments, and the amount. Usually, the judge will specify those circumstances upon which alimony may be modified or terminated. Usually, that analysis begins by looking at tax returns.
All income is considered whether it is taxed or not, including active and passive earnings such as interest, dividends, and capital gains from investments.
The Tennessee court can then look at assets likely to be awarded to the supporting spouse, including separate property. The possible situations of voluntary unemployment are almost endless. A spouse will be considered voluntarily unemployed if he or she quits a job for an unjustifiable reason for example, to move closer to a new love interest.
Even if the job loss was involuntary, as with a layoff, failure to make a good faith effort to seek new employment can be considered voluntary unemployment. During a divorce, courts expect an unemployed spouse to provide documentation of a job search. A spouse who is fired for misconduct could be considered voluntarily unemployed, too. For example, when a spouse who is terminated for viewing internet pornography on the job or for gaming on an office computer.
In cases of employment termination, even when the supporting spouse seeks new employment, the court could still find that spouse voluntarily unemployed. Additionally, a finding of voluntary unemployment could result in imputed income for child support purposes as well.
Quitting work to avoid paying alimony is an example of voluntary unemployment. Alimony is based on earning capacity and not necessarily on actual current earnings. The same applies for child support income determinations. When a spouse is voluntarily unemployed, alimony can be based on imputed income. The possible circumstances are countless.
Determining voluntary underemployment involves comparing past earnings to current earnings and considering all the circumstances. Not long at all. If the marriage was less than a year, the length of support following the divorce will also likely be very short, maybe a few months.
It depends upon the circumstances and each case is unique. As another example in a short-term marriage, if the supported spouse is stricken with a degenerative disease, preventing his or her return to the workforce, then the length of support could be longer than the marriage. Furthermore, temporary alimony could be awarded even if the marriage lasted less than a year.
And it is very common. Look closely at the factors for alimony. The witnesses most likely to testify regarding each of the factors are the parties to the divorce themselves. Fault means wrong-doing that contributed to the end of the marriage. Courts can assign blame for the failure of a marriage under Tennessee law.
Examples of marital fault include cheating, addiction to alcohol or drugs, physical or emotional abuse, and recklessly wasteful spending. Both parties can be determined at fault or one spouse can be found to be primarily responsible for the end of the marriage.
For more information, see:. Fault is a factor the courts will consider in awarding alimony in Tennessee. In general, courts worry less about fault with divorce from short-term marriages less than seven years. For longer term marriages, though, fault can be heavily considered. The Court will make a decision on spousal maintenance based on the above factors and anything else that might be important. The spouse seeking spousal maintenance will also have to demonstrate that he or she has diligently searched for employment, training, and educational opportunities.
The due diligence requirement does not apply in cases where the Affidavit of Support is being enforced. However, the Court may order that spousal maintenance remain in effect for as long as the spouse is unable to earn sufficient income to provide for his or her minimum reasonable needs because of a disability or because he or she is a caretaker of a disabled child.
Generally, spousal support payments are taxable income to the person receiving the support and deductible for the person paying.
See Texas Family Code 8. The obligation to pay spousal maintenance terminates once the award time period ends. It would also terminate on the death of either spouse or remarriage of the party receiving spousal maintenance. Additionally, it may terminate if the Court finds that the spouse receiving maintenance cohabits with another person with whom she or he has a romantic relationship.
Spousal support and spousal maintenance differ under Texas law. Spousal support can be enforced like a contract. Spousal maintenance, on the other hand, is enforceable as a court order.
Common Topics. Family, Divorce, and Children. All Topics. The Canada Revenue Agency has information to help you determine how the support payments that you pay or receive should be included or deducted from your income on your income tax return. In many cases, people pay both child and spousal support at the same time. However, the Divorce Act prioritizes the payment of child support. This means that in cases where there is not enough money for a person to pay both child and spousal support, money is directed toward paying child support first.
The duration of support will be based on the facts of the case, such as the length of time the spouses lived together, or their ages at the time of separation. In some cases, spousal support may only be paid for a limited amount of time.
In other cases, spousal support may continue unless there is a change in circumstances and the court makes a different order or the agreement is updated to reflect the change.
If you are paying spousal support that is set out in a written agreement or in a court order, you must continue to pay unless:. A court may only change a spousal support order when justified by an important change in the circumstances of either spouse. For example, if the support payor loses his or her job after the support order was made and he or she can no longer pay the amount that was ordered, a court may then decide that the support order should be changed.
If you and your former spouse have a spousal support agreement, and either of you experiences a change in your circumstances, you may wish to change your agreement to reflect your new situation. However, both you and your former spouse will need to consent to any proposed changes to your agreement before they can take effect.
If your order or agreement clearly states that spousal support is to end on a particular date or on the happening of a certain event, then payment of support can stop at that point. In cases where it is impossible to reestablish the marital standard of living, a judge may look for other ways to ensure the financial pain is not relegated to only one spouse. No two divorces are alike and, therefore, neither is the amount of alimony awarded. To determine alimony, a judge will look at several factors.
Additionally, a judge will also determine how long alimony should last. The length of time alimony lasts is not the same in every case.
However, you will need an experienced family law attorney to advocate on your behalf.
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