Clore v. Clore

135 So. 3d 264, 2013 WL 3242821, 2013 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 143
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJune 28, 2013
Docket2110967
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 135 So. 3d 264 (Clore v. Clore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clore v. Clore, 135 So. 3d 264, 2013 WL 3242821, 2013 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 143 (Ala. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinions

PITTMAN, Judge.

Karon Clore (“the wife”) appeals from a judgment of the DeKalb Circuit Court dissolving her marriage to Gregory Clore (“the husband”), challenging the alimony and property-division aspects thereof, and also seeks review of a postjudgment order of that court that, among other things, denied the wife’s requests for a new trial and for recusal of the trial judge because of his social-networking connection to the parties’ adult daughter. We affirm.

In September 2010, the husband initiated a divorce action alleging that the parties had married in 1984, that they had separated, that no children of the parties remained minors, and that the marriage should be dissolved on multiple grounds, including incompatibility of the parties, an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, and the wife’s “adultery with diverse persons.” The wife answered and asserted a counterclaim seeking a divorce solely on no-fault grounds. In October 2010, the parties reached an agreement, pursuant to which the trial court ordered the husband to pay the wife the sum of $11,000 “as ...

a portion of any final property division between the parties” incident to the parties’ divorce and also ordered the husband to pay the wife $400 every two weeks.

An ore tenus proceeding in the cause was held on March 9, 2012, after which the trial court entered a judgment divorcing the parties, without specifying a particular statutory ground for granting that relief. The judgment contains the following pertinent findings of fact:

“The parties were married on July 21, 1984. At that time, the [wife] was employed as a teacher, teaching the subjects of typing and shorthand. She received her bachelor’s degree from Radford University and had been teaching for about one year as of the date of the marriage. The [husband] also received his bachelor’s degree from Rad-ford University. He has been continuously employed during the marriage.
“The parties’ have one child who is now an adult. She was born in 1987. In 1988, the parties decided that the [wife] should quit her job and raise their child full time. At that time, the parties moved from Virginia to Alabama. The [wife] never received tenure as a teacher. She has no pension plan or retirement fund.
“The [husband] testified that over the years he had encouraged and/or asked the [wife] to find employment. He stated that she told him that she did not want to work. The [wife] denied that he had asked her to return to work. She stated that her degree is now obsolete and that she will have to return to college in order to prepare to reenter the workforce. She stated repeatedly at trial that she had not sought employment since the parties separated in September 2010 because she wants ‘a career, not a job.’
[267]*267“Throughout the marriage, the [husband’s] employment caused him to travel. He was on the road anywhere from two to five days per week. He still travels for work, averaging approximately two days per week. He earns a salary of approximately $104,000.00 per year. In addition, he receives quarterly commissions that average anywhere from $8,000.00 to as high as $10,000.00 per quarter. He stated that his 2010 compensation was approximately $115,000.00 to $118,000.00. He was unable to give an accurate salary range for other years. It is undisputed that the [wife] does not have a job and has not had a job for a number of years.
“The parties’ assets consist of: a house they built 11 years ago, the furnishings of that house, a retirement account in the [husband’s] name with a balance of approximately $520,000.00, and a 2004 Toyota Sequoia [automobile] that the [wife] drives. The [husband] does not own a vehicle as he is provided a car by his employer. The [husband] testified that at the time of the parties’ separation, his retirement account had a balance of approximately $450,000.00.
“The parties have two debts: the first mortgage on the marital residence in the approximate amount of $278,000.00 and a second mortgage on the house, taken out as a home-equity line of credit, in the approximate amount of $95,000.00.
“The [husband] lays the blame for the breakdown of the marriage primarily on the [wife]. He alleged, and she admitted, that the [wife had] had an affair in 2010 that, when he found out for certain that such had occurred, caused the separation and caused him to file for divorce. Despite her admission to having an affair with another man, the [wife] lays the blame primarily on the [husband], claiming that he was mentally and physically abusive to her during the marriage. The [husband] denies any such abuse. Other than the [wife’s] testimony to said abuse, the [trial court] was presented with no evidence to substantiate it.
“The [husband] states that the marital home would not sell on the real estate market for more than the combined mortgages, a total of approximately $873,000.00. He stated that the house at one time appraised for $450,000.00 but that it would not bring that sum in the current market. The house has been for sale, without a real estate company or agent contracted to sell it, for two and one-half years. The [husband] testified that currently there is no one looking at the house and that there have been no calls about the house in some time. The house is 5,972 square feet with five bedrooms and five and one-half baths. The [wife] claims that the house is worth approximately $650,000.00.
“The [wife] claims that she has lost $917,000.00 during the marriage by not being employed. She stated that at a minimum it would cost her $74,000.00 to obtain a degree that would allow her to reenter the workforce. She caused to be admitted [her] Exhibit ‘5’ which is a list of her estimated monthly expenses. She estimates that her expenses are $4,070.00 per month. This figure includes an estimate of $1,200.00 per month for rent. Her current rent is $710.00 per month, with her water service included. However, she wants to move to a nicer apartment and speculates that it will cost $1,200.00 per month.
“Pursuant to [the trial court’s order] of October 26, 2010, the [husband] has paid $800.00 per month to the [wife] in temporary spousal support. That Order also required him to pay to the [wife] $11,000.00 as a property settlement, the [268]*268amount of which is to be considered by the [trial court] during its final property division.
“The [husband] caused to be admitted [his] Exhibit ‘1’ which is a list of his monthly expenses, showing $5,276.94 in expenses. That same Exhibit shows a monthly net income of $5,118.82. The [husband] acknowledged that this income figure did not include the quarterly commissions that he is paid. The expenses include the temporary spousal support as well as payments on both of the mortgages. The mortgage payments total $2,720.00 per month.
“[The husband’s] Exhibit ‘2’ is a list of home furnishings still in the marital residence. That Exhibit shows that the items are worth a total of $55,145.00. [His] Exhibit ‘3’ is a list of items that [he] claims the [wife] removed from the marital residence, totaling $13,828.00. [The wife] stated that she did not remove any furnishings from the home upon the separation. However, she did admit to taking a $3,800.00 painting of her daughter because [the wife’s] mother paid for it. She gave it back to her mother.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
135 So. 3d 264, 2013 WL 3242821, 2013 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clore-v-clore-alacivapp-2013.