One of the questions that comes up repeatedly in a divorce consultation is whether or not my potential client will receive or will have to pay spousal support. Most people tend to refer to this as alimony, but “technically” Indiana does not allow for alimony and has only carved out a few narrow exceptions as to when a Court has the ability to award spousal support, which I have previously addressed before.
The one wild card in terms of receiving spousal support is how it relates to a spouse with disabilities. Recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals has addressed the issue in two separate cases. In Pala v. Loubser, 943 N.E.2d 400 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011), the Court of Appeals addressed what I consider a pretty straight forward case of incapacity related spousal support. In Pala, the ex-husband, who is an achondroplastic dwarf, was awarded a spousal maintenance amount of $1,200 a month this amount was based on his inability to earn and his ex-wife’s income. Approximately, eight years later the ex-wife moved to modify the spousal support award on the grounds that the husband’s financial position had improved.
The trial court had found that to be the case as the disabled husband had received increases in his social security disability amounts, was making money on rental properties and had approximately $50,000 worth of cash available to him. Given this information the spousal support award was terminated, and the Court of Appeals did not find error with the trial court’s ruling. The Court of Appeals also supported this conclusion by looking to the fact that the parties were married only seven years before they divorced and that eight years had elapsed since the dissolution of marriage.
The Pala case is illustrative of the fact that incapacity spousal maintenance awards are not always an indefinite award. The facts of each case are going to be reviewed by the trial court and the court will recognize the fact that people’s circumstances often change, and such awards are modifiable (unless agreed to otherwise in a property settlement agreement).
The second case, Clokey v. Clokey, 956 N.E.2d 714 (Ind. Ct. App. 2011), involves a situation where the wife was disabled at the time of the marriage and that husband admitted he was aware of the disability and recognized that he would have to care for her. The more shocking issue in this case involved the monthly award of spousal maintenance and the fact that there was some relatively bad behavior on the husband’s part in regards to how he dispersed of the majority of the marital assets. This behavior is probably what led to the award of a $2,000 per month spousal support order to the wife.
If you have questions about receiving or modifying spousal support, contact my law office today.
The Law Office of Jeffery M. Haupt is located in South Bend, Indiana and helps people handle family law issues such as divorce, child support, paternity, and child custody, criminal defense matters, DUIs, theft charges, and license suspensions; and financial matters such as Bankruptcy and Foreclosure. The information in this blog should only be used for educational purposes and not be construed as legal advice. Nothing in this blog creates an attorney-client relationship between me and any readers of this blog. No attorney-client relationship is created until you have a document from me saying so. DO NOT POST ABOUT CASE PARTICULARS IN THE COMMENT SECTION.
