Ingram v. Ingram, 2D99-1420.
| Decision Date | 21 January 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 2D99-1420.,2D99-1420. |
| Citation | 750 So.2d 130 |
| Parties | Kirk W. INGRAM, Appellant, v. Debbie Sue INGRAM, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida District Court of Appeals |
Karol K. Williams and Allison M. Perry, Tampa, for Appellant.
Ashley McCorvey Myers of Dixon, Lelfer & Lorenzen, P.A., Tampa, for Appellee.
Kirk W. Ingram appeals the final judgment dissolving his marriage to Debbie Sue Ingram, asserting that the trial court erred by improperly awarding the former wife rehabilitative alimony. We conclude that Mr. Ingram's position is meritorious and reverse.
At the time of the final hearing, Mr. Ingram was 52 years old and Mrs. Ingram was 39. Both were in good health. During the 20 year marriage, the former wife earned a bachelor's degree in personnel with a 3.7 grade point average. However, during the marriage, she never obtained employment in the personnel field. Rather, she worked part-time as a receptionist at her father's real estate company for approximately seven years, and then for Eastern Airlines, both part-time and as a floater. After Eastern Airlines went out of business, Ms. Ingram took care of the home and was a part-time college student. After she completed her degree, the parties separated. She worked for approximately nine months as a receptionist in a nursing home, but she was fired the first time she called in sick. At the time of the final hearing, she had been unemployed for eleven months.
Mr. Ingram, before and during the marriage, worked in the merchant marine. His job required him to be at sea approximately nine months out of each year. The Ingrams had no children.
In the final judgment, the court awarded Ms. Ingram both permanent alimony and rehabilitative alimony. The rehabilitative alimony award was $200.00 per month for a maximum period of four years and was intended to provide Ms. Ingram with the means to obtain a master's degree in business administration (M.B.A.). Because she had not done so, Ms. Ingram was given two years to pass the graduate record examination (G.R.E.), which is a prerequisite for admission to business school. If she failed to make a passing score within two years, rehabilitative alimony was to cease. In the event Ms. Ingram was admitted to an M.B.A. program, Mr. Ingram was required to reimburse her 50 percent of the tuition costs. For reasons of convenience, Ms. Ingram planned to take extension courses from a private university rather than to attend a local public university, where the tuition would be less expensive. A...
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...alimony, however, generally requires a rehabilitative plan that will result in an increase in the party's income. See Ingram v. Ingram, 750 So.2d 130 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). We decline to extend the purpose of bridge-the-gap alimony to meet the "needs" the husband pursues in this We recognize t......
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