Lackey v. Lackey

18 So. 3d 393, 2009 WL 50637
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMarch 6, 2009
Docket2070603
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 18 So. 3d 393 (Lackey v. Lackey) 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
Lackey v. Lackey, 18 So. 3d 393, 2009 WL 50637 (Ala. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinions

MOORE, Judge.

Phillip Limbaugh Lackey (“the husband”) appeals from a divorce judgment entered by the Jefferson Circuit Court. Lisa Faye Lackey (“the wife”) cross-appeals.

On November 3, 2006, the husband filed a complaint requesting a divorce from the wife. On November 13, 2006, the wife answered and counterclaimed for a divorce, requesting, among other things, that she be allowed to relocate with the parties’ children to Kentucky. On April 25, 2007, the husband amended his complaint to object to the proposed change in the principal residence of the parties’ children, alleging that, through an e-mail message he received from the wife on March 28, 2007, and a certified letter he received from the wife on April 3, 2007, the wife had notified him of her intent to relocate herself and the parties’ children to Kentucky effective June 1, 2007. The wife answered the amended complaint on May 4, 2007.

After a trial, the trial court entered a divorce judgment on October 4, 2007, that, among other things, awarded custody of the parties’ children to the wife; awarded the husband visitation rights; denied the husband’s objection to the wife’s relocation of the children; ordered the husband to pay $2,000- monthly as child support; ordered both parties to participate in individual therapy for two years and ordered the husband to pay for the cost of the therapy; ordered the husband to pay the premiums for the wife’s medical insurance for three years, pursuant to the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1161-1169 (“COBRA”), and the husband’s health-insurance plan; ordered the husband to provide medical- and dental-insurance coverage for the children; ordered the wife to pay the first $200 of noncovered medical expenses for the children and the husband to pay the remainder of those expenses; ordered the husband to maintain $1,000,000 in life-insurance coverage on his life for the benefit of the wife; ordered the husband to [396]*396pay the wife $1,500 monthly in periodic alimony; awarded a Jeep vehicle to the wife; awarded the husband a Volkswagen automobile; awarded certain personal property to each party; ordered each party to pay the debts in his or her individual name; and ordered the husband to pay $50,000 in attorney fees to the wife.

Both parties filed postjudgment motions, and, on January 3, 2008, the trial court entered an order noting that, pursuant to Rule 59.1, Ala. R. Civ. P., the parties had consented to extend the time for the court to rule on the postjudgment motions until February 19, 2008. On February 19, 2008, the trial court entered an order amending the final judgment. Specifically, the trial court amended certain findings of fact, corrected certain clerical errors, modified the visitation provisions, and deleted a restriction regarding same-sex overnight guests. On March 28, 2008, the husband filed his notice of appeal. The wife filed her notice of cross-appeal on April 10, 2008.

Facts

The parties met at the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. At that time, the husband was completing an internship in pediatric medicine and the wife was working as a registered nurse. At the completion of the husband’s internship, he moved to Birmingham to complete a general-surgery residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. A few months later, on October 17, 2000, the parties married, and the wife joined the husband in Birmingham and began working as a nurse there.

This marriage was the second for the wife and the first for the husband. The wife had a son from her previous marriage (“the son”). The son was 11 years old at the time of the trial and had lived with the parties throughout the parties’ marriage. During that time, the son had no contact with his biological father and the wife received no child support on the son’s behalf. Two daughters were born of the parties’ marriage; the parties’ daughters were six years old and two years old, respectively, at the time of the trial.

After the parties married, the wife’s parents, who live in Toronto, Canada, purchased a home in Birmingham and allowed the parties to live there for $500 a month. After four months, however, the husband told the wife’s parents that they could not afford the rent, and, thereafter, the wife’s parents allowed them to live in the house rent-free. The wife’s father testified that he and the wife’s mother had contributed approximately $27,000 a year to subsidize the parties’ income.

During the time the husband was completing his general-surgery residency, the parties began having marital problems. The husband testified that he had discovered that the wife had run up charges on a credit card. He and the wife both testified that he had berated her about those charges. The husband admitted that he had been verbally abusive to the wife. The parties eventually separated, and the wife filed for a divorce. Around this same time, the parties discovered that the wife was pregnant with their younger daughter. The parties attended marriage counseling; they subsequently reconciled, and the wife dismissed her complaint for a divorce. The wife testified that the reconciliation had been contingent on the husband’s taking an antidepressant and continuing to attend marriage counseling. She testified, however, that the husband had discontinued taking his antidepressant and had stopped attending counseling a few months after the reconciliation.

The husband completed his general-surgery residency in June 2005. He then moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to com-[397]*397píete a two-year residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery. The husband’s annual salary for that two-year residency was approximately $42,000. Both parties testified that they had agreed that the wife and children would stay in Birmingham because they could not afford to move to Chattanooga. The husband testified that, while he was living in Chattanooga, he traveled to Birmingham three weekends a month and sometimes during the week. The wife testified that, during those two years, the husband had come to Birmingham only two times during the week.

Around July 2005, the wife quit her job as a nurse to stay at home with the children. She testified that one of the reasons she had quit working was that the husband was not living in Birmingham and the husband’s mother was no longer able to care for the children.

During the husband’s plastic- and reconstructive-surgery residency, he interviewed for jobs in Auburn, Alabama, Cull-man, Alabama, and Savannah, Georgia. The parties eventually settled on the job in Cullman, and the husband accepted an offer to join a practice there upon the completion of his residency. The husband testified that the wife was happy with that choice because, among other things, Cull-man was closer to her relatives in Kentucky. The husband testified that his starting base salary would be $175,000 and that he would be eligible for a productivity bonus. The husband would also be given an $87,500 loan that would be forgiven under certain circumstances.

During the fall of 2006, the parties again began having marital problems. The husband testified that the wife had informed him that she had about $25,000 in credit-card debt of which he had been unaware. The wife testified that the husband knew that she had been using the credit cards. She testified that she had had to use the credit cards because the husband’s salary alone was not enough to support the family.

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Bluebook (online)
18 So. 3d 393, 2009 WL 50637, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lackey-v-lackey-alacivapp-2009.