Wolfburg v. Wolfburg

606 A.2d 48, 27 Conn. App. 396, 1992 Conn. App. LEXIS 167
CourtConnecticut Appellate Court
DecidedApril 21, 1992
Docket10258
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 606 A.2d 48 (Wolfburg v. Wolfburg) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Connecticut Appellate Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wolfburg v. Wolfburg, 606 A.2d 48, 27 Conn. App. 396, 1992 Conn. App. LEXIS 167 (Colo. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

Dupont, C. J.

This is an appeal from a judgment rendered in a dissolution of marriage action. The defendant challenges the financial awards, claiming that the trial court (1) abused its discretion in valuing the parties’ furniture, (2) abused its discretion in ordering certain debts to be divided equally between the parties in light of its other awards, (3) improperly awarded time limited alimony to the plaintiff during their son’s [397]*397minority. The first two claims are garden variety appellate claims. The third issue raised requires a resolution of whether the economic impact of providing the main custodial care of a child may, under certain circumstances, be a basis for limiting the term of alimony payments to a period coextensive with the child’s minority.

The parties were married in November of 1968. Two children were born during the marriage, one of whom had attained her majority prior to the commencement of this action. At the time of the dissolution, the plaintiff was forty years old and worked approximately twenty-five hours per week as a computer operator, with a net weekly income of approximately $255. The defendant was a forty-one year old police officer whose earnings were supplemented by workers’ compensation benefits, with a net weekly income of approximately $590. The parties’ minor child was ten years old.

In April, 1989, the plaintiff learned that the defendant had been involved in an affair with another woman for one and one-half years. Despite repeated promises to terminate that relationship, the defendant’s inability to keep those promises led to the plaintiff’s filing a complaint for divorce. After the complaint was filed, the other woman gave birth to the defendant’s twin sons.

The marriage was dissolved on April 30, 1991. The court awarded the parties joint custody of their minor son but gave primary physical custody to the plaintiff. The court ordered alimony to the plaintiff in the amount of $95 per week until August 1, 1998, unless sooner terminated by the death or remarriage of the plaintiff. The minor son will attain his majority on August 2, 1998.1 [398]*398The alimony was made nonmodifiable as to term only. The court also ordered child support in the amount of $135 per week.

The defendant was ordered to maintain medical and dental insurance for the minor child and the plaintiff for two years. The plaintiff was ordered to reimburse the defendant for any increased premium due to her coverage. Uninsured medical expenses for the minor child were ordered to be divided equally between the parties. The defendant was also ordered to maintain life insurance with a minimum face value of $50,000 for the plaintiff’s benefit until alimony ceased or the child attained his majority, whichever was later.

The defendant was ordered to deed his interest in the marital real estate to the plaintiff by quitclaim deed and the plaintiff was ordered to execute a mortgage deed and note in the amount of $17,378 to the defendant, payable upon her remarriage, death, the sale of the home or August 2,1998, whichever soonest occurred.

This court has repeated on many occasions that a trial court has broad discretion in domestic relations cases. Savage v. Savage, 25 Conn. App. 693, 695, 596 A.2d 23 (1990). Because of the opportunity for the trial court to observe the parties, great weight is given its judgment with respect to financial awards. Holley v. Holley, 194 Conn. 25, 29, 478 A.2d 1000 (1984); Breen v. Breen, 18 Conn. App. 166, 169, 557 A.2d 140 (1989). As a reviewing court, we are limited to determining whether the trial court abused its discretion in making those awards. Barnes v. Barnes, 190 Conn. 491, 494-95, 460 A.2d 1302 (1983). For us to conclude that the trial court abused its discretion, we must find that the court “ ‘either incorrectly applied the law or could not reasonably conclude as it did.’ ” Trivelli v. Trivelli, 5 Conn. App. 488, 490, 500 A.2d 244 (1985), quoting Sweet v. Sweet, 190 Conn. 657, 664, 462 A.2d 1031 [399]*399(1983). Having reviewed the record and the evidence in this case, we conclude that the award of the trial court as to the amount of alimony, the valuation of the furniture and the division of the payment of the parties’ debts was clearly within the parameters of its broad discretion and was in accordance with the law and the evidence.

The defendant challenges the nonmodifiable duration of the time limited alimony on two grounds. First, he claims that the plaintiff has extensive job skills and, therefore, does not need time limited alimony for the purpose of further education or job training. Second, he argues that in linking the term of alimony to the period of their child’s minority, the court impermissi-bly awarded additional child support under the guise of time limited alimony.

General Statutes § 46b-82 sets out a number of criteria for the court to consider in exercising its discretion in awarding alimony. These include the length of the marriage, the causes for the dissolution of the marriage, the age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate and needs of the parties. The trial court expressly considered the statutory factors and specifically discussed the employability, the vocational skills, and the amount and sources of income in its oral decision.

Where alimony of limited duration is awarded, however, there must also be “sufficient evidence to support the trial court’s finding that the spouse should receive time limited alimony for the particular duration established. If the time period for the periodic alimony is logically inconsistent with the facts found or the evidence, it cannot stand.” Henin v. Henin, 26 Conn. App. 386, 392, 601 A.2d 550 (1992).

[400]*400We agree with the defendant that the record amply supports his contention that the plaintiff is not in need of training or further education in order to obtain the skills necessary to attain self-sufficiency. We do not agree, however, that a rehabilitative purpose was the basis of the time limited award of alimony in this case. “Although time limited alimony awards are usually rehabilitative in purpose, there may be other valid reasons for awarding such alimony.” Roach v. Roach, 20 Conn. App. 500, 506, 568 A.2d 1037 (1990); see also Henin v. Henin, supra; Kane v. Parry, 24 Conn. App. 307, 314, 588 A.2d 227 (1991).

A valid purpose of time limited alimony is to provide interim support until a future event occurs that makes such support less necessary or unnecessary. Henin v. Henin, supra.

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Bluebook (online)
606 A.2d 48, 27 Conn. App. 396, 1992 Conn. App. LEXIS 167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wolfburg-v-wolfburg-connappct-1992.