Mullinax v. Mullinax, 29684
| Decision Date | 27 May 1975 |
| Docket Number | No. 29684,29684 |
| Citation | 216 S.E.2d 802,234 Ga. 553 |
| Parties | Thomas V. MULLINAX, Sr. v. Mary Alice MULLINAX. |
| Court | Georgia Supreme Court |
Don M. Johes, Atlanta, for appellant.
L. Paul Cobb, Jr., Atlanta, for appellee.
Syllabus Opinion by the Court
In this divorce suit instituted by the wife in June, 1969, the husband appeals, enumerating as error the overruling of his motion for new trial and the refusal to set aside as excessive the alimony award by the jury of $350 a month, two parcels of real property (already in the wife's name) and the personal property in the two houses located thereon.
The wife testified that an adult son who is disabled and unable to work lives with her; that he shares his disability check with her; that a small apartment in the residence has been occupied by a married child who got behind in paying rent; that the second house is in such run-down condition it cannot be rented until it is painted and repaired; that an automobile is necessary to her employment as a visiting public health nurse; that she earns $872 a month before taxes, $641 per month after taxes, retirement, etc.; that her fixed, recurring living expenses add up to $900 a month; and that she needs a minimum of $1,000 per month on which to live. The alimony of $350 per month when added to her take home pay of $641 per month amounts to $991.
The husband, an attorney, was extensively questioned about his earnings, his tax returns and his office account books. The husband's income tax returns for the years 1962 through 1972 reported his highest gross earnings at $9,144 for the year 1972, with a net of $4,589 for that year. However, the evidence showed that the tax returns for the years 1961 through 1968 were prepared in late 1969 from receipt books. The receipt books were shown to be in disarray. Those books showed a gross of $8,088 as of the date of trial on November 19, 1973, for that year.
The wife testified, without objection, that the husband made at least $10,000 in 1959, the year he first started practicing law, and that he is capable of making $50,000 a year. She also testified that during the marriage her husband gambled and frequently brought home large sums of money ($5,000 on one such occasion) of which no part was given her. The husband denied these assertions.
1. The trial court charged the jury as to the wife's and the husband's needs and circumstances, and that in arriving at the amount of alimony, if any, 'The financial status of the husband, the value of his property, his estate, his income, the resources from which he procures income, the extent of his earning capacity, his training and his ability, are all factors which should be considered if the evidence revealed such to you.'
The jury determined that the evidence was sufficient to warrant an award of $350 a month, or $4,200 per year, and the trial court overruled the husband's motion...
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Smith v. Smith, 31317
...juries to fix the amount of alimony and child support, we are not inclined to disturb the present verdict. See Mullinax v. Mullinax, 234 Ga. 553, 216 S.E.2d 802 (1975). The husband also contends that the trial judge erred in not charging the jury that they could set alimony for a period of ......
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Worrell v. Worrell, 33576
...190 S.E.2d 67 (1972)." Smith v. Smith, 237 Ga. 499, supra, pp. 500-501, 228 S.E.2d 883, supra, p. 884. However, in Mullinax v. Mullinax, 234 Ga. 553 (1), 216 S.E.2d 802 (1975), we approved the jury's consideration, in arriving at the amount of alimony, of evidence of the following factors: ......
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Courtney v. Courtney, 43093
...the fact of potential retirement benefits falls among these considerations and is relevant to the alimony issue. Mullinax v. Mullinax, 234 Ga. 553, 216 S.E.2d 802 (1975). Compare Stumpf v. Stumpf, 249 Ga. 759, 761, 294 S.E.2d 488 (1982), where we held that evidence of military retirement be......
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Hammond v. Hammond
...the fact of potential retirement benefits falls among these considerations and is relevant to the alimony issue. Mullinax v. Mullinax, 234 Ga. 553, 216 S.E.2d 802 (1975).Courtney v. Courtney, 256 Ga. 97(1), 344 S.E.2d 421 (1986). In making its alimony award, the trial court properly conside......