TN Divorce Can’t Include Automatic Future Alimony Increase
Tennessee alimony divorce case summary after 16 years married.
Eric Todd Sparks v. Rachel Collins Sparks
TN Divorce Can’t Include Automatic Future Alimony Increase
The husband and wife in this Bradley County, Tennessee, case were married in 2005 and had one daughter who was born in 2012. The husband, a driver for UPS, filed for divorce in 2019. He had benefits such as a 401(k) and health insurance through his employer, but the wife had no benefits as a self-employed hairdresser.
The parties agreed to many property matters, but were unable to agree to alimony. The case went to trial before Judge Michael E. Jenne in 2021.
The husband earned about $101,000 per year, although this varied. The wife tended to earn about $40,000 to $50,000, but she had some additional cash earnings.
The husband was ordered to pay child support of $693 per month, plus alimony in futuro in the amount of $750. But when the child reached the age of majority, the amount of alimony was to increase to $1250 per month. Some minor adjustments were made, but the husband appealed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
The husband argued on appeal that the alimony award was improper. The appeals court first noted that, in general, the record supported the lower court’s findings as to alimony, and that an award of alimony in futuro was proper.
However, it did compute the husband’s ability to pay, and concluded that only $499 was available, and not the full $750.
As to the automatic increase, the appeals court first noted that, while not unheard of, these are generally not appropriate.
In this case, the child would not reach majority for another nine years, and this intervening time made it likely that there would be other substantial changes in the parties’ positions. For these reasons, it vacated the automatic increase.
For these reasons, while the lower court’s decision was affirmed in part, it was also vacated in part, and the case was remanded for determination of the proper alimony amount. The costs of appeal were assessed equally upon both parties.
No. E2022-00586-COA-R3-CV (Tenn. Ct. App. June 20, 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?
