I was eagerly awaiting the Court of Appeals decision in Allen-Hines v. Hines because I was hoping it would answer the question of whether a short marriage alone was sufficient to award rehabilitative alimony rather than permanent periodic alimony. On August 29, 1988, the Court of Appeals affirmed an award of one year rehabilitative alimony [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Alimony/Spousal Support’
Defending false allegations of untimely support payments
Counseling clients to pay support by having their bank mail the support check can be a useful prophylactic for defending false claims of late payments. Most of my child support and alimony-paying clients hate paying through the courts. This hatred is completely justified. The 5% fee associated with paying support through the South Carolina clerks [...]
Does a short marriage justify the award of rehabilitative alimony rather than permanent alimony?
Most family law attorneys and divorcing parties seem to believe a short marriage suggests an award of rehabilitative rather than permanent alimony. I’m not so sure. Next month the Court of Appeals will hear oral argument in the appeal of Karen Allen-Hines v. Franklin Hines. One of the issues on appeal is whether the family [...]
So that’s why (s)he left
Continuing today’s theme of gifts from benevolent domestic litigation deities is the issue of overly vitriolic affidavits for temporary hearings in marital dissolution cases. When beginning representation in a marital dissolution case the spouse who moved out is often at a disadvantage unless he or she can provide a good explanation for why he or [...]
At least he got the laptop back
N.B., the Court of Appeals opinion in Pittman v. Pittman was subsequently refiled with a different analysis on the transmutation issue. See Rearranging the deck chairs Thomas F. McDow is a friend of mine and an exceptional attorney. When I noted that the appeal he pursued in Pittman v. Pittman, resulting in a published decision today [August [...]
Court of Appeals holds ex-wife’s alimony claim possibly not time barred due to ex-husband’s violence and threats
In the July 20, 2011 decision in Ross v. Ross, 394 S.C. 261, 715 S.E.2d 359 (Ct. App. 2011), the Court of Appeals remanded the issue of whether the Wife’s petition for alimony could defeat a claim of untimeliness due to her Husband’s alleged pattern of violence and threats of violence towards her. The Court of [...]
Ending the alimony guessing game
An editorial in today’s New York Times, Ending the alimony guessing game, by Alexandra Harwin, a 2011 Yale Law School graduate, highlights New York State’s recent enactment of explicit temporary alimony guidelines. Under the formula, alimony is set at 30 percent of the higher-earning spouse’s income, minus 20 percent of the lower-earning spouse’s, as long [...]
Court of Appeals holds Rule 59(e) motion does not authorize family court to modify final order, sua sponte, in manner not requested by the moving party
The June 29, 2011 Court of Appeals opinion in Wannamaker v. Wannamaker, 719 S.E.2d 261 (S.C. App. 2011) (refiled August 11, 2011 with a slightly altered analysis of the equitable distribution issue) involved three issues, two of which were not novel. The unnovel issues: In a sixteen year marriage, where the supported spouse earns $30k per year [...]