Ex-Husband Gets Alimony Modification After Retirement Found Reasonable
Tennessee alimony modification case summary.
Kim Covarrubias v. Gerald Edward Baker
The husband and wife in this Knox County, Tennessee, case were divorced in 2007. In 2015, the husband moved to reduce his alimony. The trial court granted the request, but the Tennessee Court of Appeals reversed that decision.
In 2021, the husband made another motion to modify his alimony obligation. He alleged that he was unemployed, was receiving Social Security, and that there was a substantial and material change in his circumstances, since he had severe hearing loss and his severance package had ended. He alleged that his income had dropped from $160,000 down to about $24,000. His current spousal support left him only about $713 to live on.
The trial court found the husband’s testimony to be credible, and that there had been a substantial change of circumstances. It held, though, that the obligation was self-modifying, since it called for the husband to pay half of his income as support. Therefore, it denied the motion, and the husband appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
One issue that the husband argued should have been considered was the fact that the wife was sharing her home with an adult daughter. It also cited an earlier case in which the obligor’s retirement was objectively reasonable, and that such an event constitutes a material change of circumstances.
The appeals court pointed out that even as recently as 2020, the husband didn’t know what his future plans would be. And it also noted that half of $160,000 is significantly different from 50% of $24,000. And the appeals court noted that the lower court had not properly considered all of his expenses, such as food expense. It found that the lower court did not fully reckon with his expenses or ability to pay. It held that the case resulted in an injustice, and would need to be reversed.
For these reasons, the Court of Appeals reversed the lower court and remanded the case.
No. E2023-00025-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. Nov. 8, 2023).
See original opinion for exact language. Legal citations omitted.
To learn more, see Alimony Law in Tennessee, and our video, How is alimony decided in Tennessee?
To learn more, see Alimony Modification in Tennessee Law | How to Modify Alimony and our video, How is alimony decided in Tennessee?
