Jackson v. Jackson
| Decision Date | 06 March 1962 |
| Citation | 16 Wis.2d 61,113 N.W.2d 546 |
| Parties | Marie JACKSON, Respondent, v. Byron R. JACKSON, Appellant. |
| Court | Wisconsin Supreme Court |
Petition by Byron R. Jackson, defendant-appellant, to revise and alter that part of the judgment of divorce entered on August 19, 1954, respecting the allowance of $400 per month alimony payable to Marie Jackson, plaintiff-respondent. A hearing was had on the matter, and on June 2, 1961, the trial court ordered the judgment amended, reducing the alimony payable to the plaintiff-respondent to $300 per month. The appeal is by the defendant-appellant.
Peters & Baumann, Hartford, Thomas J. Koll, Hartford, of counsel, for appellant.
John R. Craite, Milwaukee, Gregory Gramling, Jr., Milwaukee, of counsel, for respondent.
The plaintiff, Marie Jackson and the defendant, Byron Jackson, after a marriage extending over a period of twenty-eight years were divorced and judgment was entered on August 19, 1954. The judgment provided for a division of property pursuant to a stipulation entered into between the husband and wife. Marie Jackson, wife, received household furniture and furnishings of approximately $3,500 value, and a 1949 automobile valued at $750, and alimony in the amount of $400 per month. At that time Byron Jackson was earning $1,197 per month. In addition to the $400 per month alimony, Byron Jackson was also ordered to continue in force certain policies of life insurance with his wife as named beneficiary; these policies had death benefits of $8,500. The yearly premium for these policies was approximately $140.
Pursuant to the terms of the stipulation and judgment Byron Jackson retained certain household articles, a house in Indiana worth $1,000, seven acres of land in Washington county, Wisconsin worth approximately $4,800, and a company life insurance policy with benefits of $30,000, which, according to his testimony, would diminish to about $15,000 upon his retirement.
On June 1, 1961, Byron Jackson was retired by his employer because of ill health. His income was reduced by this retirement to a retirement pension of $573 per month plus approximately $50 per month from investments, for a total income of about $623 per month. On the basis of this reduction in his income, Byron applied to the county court for reduction of alimony.
From the time of the divorce, August 19, 1954, until the time of the hearing on his application for reduction of alimony, June 1961, Byron Jackson has been able to substantially increase his assets. At the time of the divorce he owned 24 shares of American Can Stock (his employer) and had roughly $1,000 in a checking account. At the time of the hearing he had 174 shares of American Can Stock, some Eaton and Howard Stock, $4,000 in a checking account, $6,000 in a savings account, $1,100 in a credit union account and he has increased the value of his home from $4,800 to over $6,000.
Marie Jackson, during this period of time, has not increased her assets, though, according to her testimony, her total income has been more than her necessary expenses. Marie Jackson estimated her necessary living expenses at $391 per month. She received approximately $25 a week from a part time job and around $30 per year from stocks. Her total monthly income then at the time of the hearing was approximately $115 per month plus whatever amount of alimony was accorded to her by the court.
The defendant in June of 1961, was sixty-three years of age, remarried and owned his own home. At age sixty-five he would become eligible for social security benefits of $108 per month. The plaintiff in June, 1961, was fifty-five years of age, unmarried and lived in a three room apartment located in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin.
The trial court in its written decision and order found that at the time the judgment of divorce was entered, the defendant Byron Jackson had an annual salary of $13,364 ($1,197 per month); that at the time of the hearing he was sixty-three years of age, that effective on June 1, 1961, he was retired by his employer and that his retirement monthly pension is $563, and that he has additional income of $50 per month making a total monthly income of $623. The trial court further found that the health of both plaintiff and defendant is impaired, that there has been a substantial change in the defendant's financial circumstances so as to warrant a downward revision of his alimony payments, that two years hence when he attains the age of sixty-five he will be entitled to $108 for social security benefits.
The issue then is whether the trial court's reduction of alimony from $400 to $300 per month, constitutes an abuse of the court's discretion in view of the changed financial circumstances of the husband and the financial needs of the wife.
The extent to which the allowance shall be...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Taake v. Taake
...the basis of the needs of the wife and children and the ability of the husband to pay.' (P. 25, 187 N.W.2d p. 870) Jackson v. Jackson (1962), 16 Wis.2d 61, 113 N.W.2d 546, put the burden of proof to show changed financial circumstances upon the party seeking to upset the original Additional......
-
Stowe v. Stowe
...proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion. Neither party shall be entitled to tax costs on this appeal. 1 See Jackson v. Jackson (1962), 16 Wis.2d 61, 64, 113 N.W.2d 546; Bradley v. Bradley (1960), 9 Wis.2d 523, 530, 101 N.W.2d 628; Anderson v. Anderson (1959), 8 Wis.2d 133, 142, 98 N.......
- Anderson v. Saunders
-
Lemm v. Lemm
...marriage. He may also in appropriate cases be required to show that his ability to pay has diminished. As stated in Jackson v. Jackson (1962), 16 Wis.2d 61, 113 N.W.2d 546, the burden of proof is upon the party who seeks to change the original The record in this case shows that there was a ......