According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the divorce rate in Tennessee is three per 1,000 residents. This is above the national average, and many divorcing spouses struggle with issues like alimony and spousal support during this legal process. Divorce appeals can also be challenging, and they may be influenced by spousal support. To understand how these two concepts intersect, spouses must first gain an understanding of both alimony and the divorce appellate process. This may be easier to understand with guidance from a Tennessee divorce lawyer. Consider continuing this conversation alongside King Law Offices. Aside from Tennessee, we also serve residents in North Carolina and South Carolina. Consider contacting us at (888) 748-5464.
What Is the Difference Between Alimony and Spousal Support?
Alimony and spousal support might sound like different concepts, but they are actually interchangeable terms. Both represent the money paid by one spouse to another after a divorce involving income or wealth discrepancies. In other words, the spouse who earned more money during the marriage generally pays alimony. In some states, the formal legal term is “spousal support.” However, Tennessee uses the word “alimony” to describe these payments in its statutes. To learn more about the details of Tennessee alimony laws, consider speaking with King Law Offices.
What Is a Divorce Appeal?
In order to understand how alimony and spousal support might affect a divorce appeal, a spouse should first gain solid grasp of how these divorce appeals actually work. In general, an appeal is a “second chance” after receiving a negative decision in court. An appeal allows one party to ask a higher court to review a decision made by a lower court. If an appeal is successful, the higher (appellate) court could reverse the original decision. An appellate court might also order the lower court to revisit the issue, thereby resulting in a completely new trial.
In the context of a divorce, an appeal might involve various family law decisions. For example, a spouse might file an appeal after losing a custody battle. Another spouse might file an appeal after losing access to the family home. Child support could also form the basis of an appeal, perhaps if a parent feels that they face payments that are excessively high. Another parent might file an appeal because they believe they should receive more child support. Alimony follows the same general logic. The most important thing to remember about appeals is that spouses cannot file them on a whim. There must be a valid reason behind every appeal, such as a clear error or misinterpretation of the law. A spouse might also file an appeal if a trial court abuses its discretion. In Tennessee, divorce appeals are handled by the Court of Appeals.
Can I File an Appeal if I Did Not Get Enough Alimony?
A spouse could potentially file a divorce appeal after experiencing a negative alimony outcome during a trial. For example, they might want to file an appeal after a decision that left them with insufficient alimony. However, a spouse cannot file an appeal simply because they did not like the amount of alimony they received. Instead, they must point to some kind of error, misinterpretation of the law, or abuse of discretion by the trial court. These mistakes could happen in a number of ways, and such mistakes could potentially lead to a spouse receiving less alimony than they deserve.
For example, the court may have failed to take into account less obvious forms of income earned by the other spouse. Perhaps a spouse earns income through a trust or corporation, and the trial court failed to factor this in when making alimony calculations. Many spouses have considerable financial knowledge, and they know how to hide certain sources of income. The court may have also failed to take into account other factors during alimony calculations, including the age and health of each spouse. In addition, the paying spouse might pretend to be unable to work in an effort to avoid paying alimony, and these strategies could potentially fool the trial court.
Can I File an Appeal After Being Ordered to Pay Too Much Alimony?
On the other hand, spouses can also file appeals if a trial court orders them to pay what they believe to be an excessive amount of alimony. Various mistakes, misinterpretations, and abuses of discretion could lead to this outcome. For example, a court may fail to take into account the adulterous behavior of a spouse during a marriage. In Tennessee, family courts may consider infidelity when awarding alimony. If a spouse engages in this marital misconduct, they could potentially lose their right to receive alimony. A spouse could file an appeal and force a higher court to re-examine compelling evidence of this alleged adultery.
Alimony appeals of this nature might also involve miscalculations, and a spouse might receive alimony despite having considerable wealth. For example, a spouse earning $75,000 a year might be ordered to pay alimony to their ex, who acted as a homemaker throughout the marriage. However, this ex might be a beneficiary of a multi-million-dollar trust fund due to their immensely wealthy family. In this situation, the paying spouse could ask a higher court to examine the details of this trust fund. The appellate court may then conclude that the original alimony order was unfair.
Appeals Can Only Occur After Trials
Spouses can only file appeals after trials conclude, and many divorces today end with alternative dispute resolution (ADR) strategies that never actually proceed to trial. For example, a spouse cannot “appeal” an unsuccessful mediation because no trial ever occurred. Those who wish to avoid costly and time-consuming trials (and subsequent appeals) might want to prioritize effective ADR strategies.
Discuss Alimony and Spousal Support With King Law Offices
Spouses who wish to learn more about alimony and spousal support may want to consult with experienced divorce lawyers in Tennessee. Although these payments may seem relatively straightforward at first, they have the potential to influence many aspects of divorce – including divorce appeals. That said, the long-term implications of spousal support depend on the unique circumstances of each family. Online research may represent a positive start for spouses who want to learn more about these subjects, but conversations with lawyers could provide more personalized guidance. To continue this discussion, consider contacting King Law Offices at (888) 748-5464.
