J.D.A. v. A.B.A., 2100907
| Decision Date | 15 March 2013 |
| Docket Number | 2100907 |
| Parties | J.D.A. v. A.B.A. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-0649), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter.
Appeal from Montgomery Circuit Court
J.D.A. ("the husband") appeals from a judgment of the Montgomery Circuit Court that, among other things, divorced him from A.B.A. ("the wife"); divided the marital assets; awarded the wife periodic alimony; required the husband to paychild support for the parties' two minor children and postminority educational support for all three of the parties' children; and awarded the wife an attorney fee. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with instructions.
The parties married in 1987 when the wife, who was then 20 years old, was completing the requirements for an undergraduate degree in elementary education and the husband, who was then 24 years old, was employed as a certified public accountant ("CPA") at BellSouth Corporation in Birmingham. The parties' first child, a daughter ("the older daughter"), was born in November 1990. The husband worked at BellSouth until 1992, when he decided, with the wife's support and encouragement, to reenroll in college in order to take the courses necessary to enable him to sit for the Medical College Acceptance Test and to attend medical school. In 1993, the husband entered medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The parties' second child ("the younger daughter") was born in 1994.
Following the completion of his first year of residency and the birth of the parties' third child, a son, in 1998, the husband experienced an emotional breakdown. He left thehospital one day without explanation and arrived home distraught, telling the wife that he could not return to finish his residency. The wife scheduled an appointment for the husband with a psychiatrist and explained to the director of the husband's medical program that the husband was not well and needed to rest. The husband was placed on medication, took a six-month break from his residency duties, and then completed his medical training. During the 10-year period that the husband pursued his medical education, the wife taught school in the Mountain Brook school system, earned a master's degree in education, and began taking course work for a doctoral degree in education.
In 2003, the parties moved to Montgomery, where the husband was employed by a group of physicians practicing the specialty of radiology. His starting salary was $300,000. Two years later, he became a partner in the group and began earning a base salary of $400,000 plus dividends and bonuses. For the 5 years preceding the trial of the case in 2010, the husband's adjusted gross income was $578,497 in 2005; $687,023 in 2006; $621,589 in 2007; $691,496 in 2008; and $685,915 in2009. After the parties moved to Montgomery, the wife was not employed.
At trial, the wife testified that, throughout the marriage, the husband had been "busy tending to his career" and had avoided conflict, communication with her, and involvement with the children. Those problems, she said, had been aggravated by the husband's excessive consumption of alcohol and, later, by his adulterous conduct. It was undisputed that, in 2004, the husband had had a brief affair with an employee of his radiology practice group, that he had confessed the affair to the wife, that the wife had forgiven him, and that the parties had thereafter participated in marital counseling. At trial, the husband admitted to a second affair that ultimately had caused the wife, in June 2009, to file a complaint seeking a divorce and to demand that the husband move out of the marital residence.
The husband characterized the parties' marital problems as having stemmed from the wife's excessive spending and excessive consumption of alcohol, her controlling personality, and her having intentionally involved the children in their marital conflicts. The husband testified that he haddeposited his earnings in the parties' joint checking account and that, when he had become concerned about the amount the wife was spending and had indicated to her that he would reduce the money available in the joint account, the wife had threatened to "bounce checks" and to damage his credit rating if he did so.
The case was tried over four days, September 27, 28, and 29, and December 6, 2010. At the time of trial, the wife was 43 years old; the husband was 48 years old; and the parties' children were 19, 16, and 12 years old, respectively. While the action was pending, the husband lived in the guest room of his sister's house in Montgomery; the parties' older daughter entered the University of Alabama and reached the age of majority; and the wife and the two minor children remained in the marital residence. Furthermore, during the pendency of the action, the husband deposited $16,000 to $20,000 per month in the parties' joint checking account for the living expenses of the wife and the minor children and also paid the older daughter's college expenses, the minor children's private-school tuition, and all expenses associated with the family's five vehicles.
The parties reached a partial settlement before trial, agreeing that they would sell the marital residence and that the wife would receive the net proceeds of that sale as part of her share of the marital assets. The wife used $200,000 of the $288,000 derived from the sale of the marital residence to make a down payment on a townhouse that she purchased for $375,000. The wife testified that she expected the monthly payment on her mortgage indebtedness for the townhouse to be approximately $1,500.
On January 13, 2011, the trial court entered a judgment divorcing the parties without making any factual findings and without specifying a ground for the divorce.1 The trial courtawarded the parties joint legal custody and the wife sole physical custody of the two minor children. The court determined that, if the parties were unable to reach a mutual decision on issues concerning the children, the husband would have the final decision-making authority on matters concerning the children's education, health, automobiles, and sports activities and the wife would have the final decision-making authority on matters concerning religion and social/extracurricular activities. The trial court ordered the husband to pay the wife child support for the two minor children in the amount of $3,900 per month, to maintain the "529 Plan" accounts2 for all three children, and to pay all three children's "college tuition and other costs pursuant to the requirements and limitations of Ex parte Bayliss[, 550 So. 2d 986 (Ala. 1989),] and its progeny." The trial courtfurther ordered the husband to pay "all costs associated with the automobiles [in the possession of the two daughters], including, but not limited to, maintenance, gasoline, and insurance."
The trial court awarded the husband 57%, and the wife 43%, of the marital property for which the record indicates a value. In addition, the trial court awarded the wife periodic alimony in the amount of $10,000 per month and the sum of $40,000, which it designated as "a portion of the wife's attorney's fees, court costs, and litigation expenses."3
Following the denial of his postjudgment motion, the husband appealed, raising the following issues for this court's review: (I) whether the trial court failed to consider all relevant factors in making the property-division and periodic-alimony awards and whether those awards were inequitable; (II) whether the trial court erred in ordering him to pay postminority educational support for the parties' three children; (III) whether the trial court erred in requiring him to pay for the daughters' automobile expenses; and (IV) whether the trial court erred in awarding the wife an attorney fee.
The husband argues that the trial court's property-division and periodic-alimony awards were made without considering all relevant factors and were inequitable.
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