Opinion ID: 2158767
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Heading: analysis

Text: When determining whether an award of alimony is appropriate under the facts of a particular case, we have stated: Alimony is a stipend to a spouse in lieu of the other spouse's legal obligation for support. Alimony is not an absolute right, and an award thereof depends upon the circumstances of a particular case. When making or denying an alimony award, the trial court considers the factors set forth in Iowa Code section 598.21(3). Although our review of the trial court's award is de novo, we accord the trial court considerable latitude in making this determination and will disturb the ruling only when there has been a failure to do equity. In re Marriage of Spiegel, 553 N.W.2d 309, 319 (Iowa 1996) (citations omitted). Iowa Code section 598.21(3) (2003) describes the various factors the court considers in ordering support payments to a party in a dissolution case. The factors relevant to the instant case include: (1) the length of the marriage; (2) the age and physical and emotional health of the parties; (3) the distribution of property; (4) the educational level of each party at the time of marriage and at the time the action is commenced; (5) the earning capacity of the party seeking maintenance, including educational background, training, employment skills, work experience, length of absence from the job market, responsibilities for children under either an award of custody or physical care, and the time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party to find appropriate employment; (6) the feasibility of the party seeking maintenance becoming self-supporting at a standard of living reasonably comparable to that enjoyed during the marriage, and the length of time necessary to achieve this goal; (7) the tax consequences to each party; and (8) other factors the court may determine to be relevant in an individual case. Iowa Code § 598.21(3)( a )-( g ), ( j ). The district court awarded Mary traditional alimony. Traditional alimony is payable for life or so long as a spouse is incapable of self-support. In re Marriage of Francis, 442 N.W.2d 59, 64 (Iowa 1989). The court of appeals modified the alimony award by awarding Mary rehabilitative alimony stating that it would be more equitable to do so. Rehabilitative alimony is a way of supporting an economically dependent spouse through a limited period of re-education or retraining following divorce, thereby creating incentive and opportunity for that spouse to become self-supporting. Id. at 63-64 (citations omitted). We disagree with the court of appeals that the district court award of traditional alimony did not do equity between the parties. Mary was forty-eight years old and had just completed her cancer treatments at the time the court dissolved her twenty-three-year marriage. She suffers from diabetes with lethargy and peripheral neuropathy. She also has fibromyalgia and depression. She is on medication for her health conditions. These conditions will cause her to incur substantial medical, insurance, and prescription costs. Mary's educational background includes one year of college, but she has no significant work history. Based upon her health and her prior educational background, we agree with the district court that she would be able to earn approximately $8 per hour when she enters the job market. We also agree with the district court finding that she cannot be reeducated and retrained in a limited period to allow her to become self-supporting. The alimony awarded by the district court together with an $8 per hour earning capacity would just barely allow her to maintain a standard of living reasonably comparable to that enjoyed during the marriage. Although Mary received significantly more in property distribution than Guy did, Guy received the residence. If Guy continues to make the payments on the residence, he should obtain substantial equity in the residence due to the mortgage payments and any appreciation of the residence. On the other hand, Mary will have to use the money she received in the property distribution to replace her deteriorating vehicle, pay off her credit card debts, and find a suitable place to live. Finally, the federal and state governments will tax Mary's alimony, while Guy will receive a deduction on his tax returns for the alimony he pays. All these factors lead us to the conclusion the district court was correct when it awarded Mary traditional alimony. Guy argues Mary's gambling should be considered among the [o]ther factors the court may determine to be relevant in an individual case in making an alimony award. Iowa Code § 598.21(3)( j ). However, the overriding legislative purpose of the dissolution act is to remove fault-based standards for termination of marriages. In re Marriage of Williams, 199 N.W.2d 339, 344 (Iowa 1972). There we held: not only the guilty party concept must be eliminated but evidence of the conduct of the parties insofar as it tends to place fault for the marriage breakdown on either spouse must also be rejected as a factor in awarding property settlement or an allowance of alimony or support money. Id. at 345 (emphasis added); see also In re Marriage of Goodwin, 606 N.W.2d 315, 324 (Iowa 2000) (rejecting the contention that domestic abuse should be considered under the catchall provision in property distribution because it would introduce the concept of fault into a dissolution-of-marriage action). In this case, Guy stated he desired a divorce from Mary only because he could not continue to stand by while Mary ran up more bills and spent more money that [he and Mary] couldn't pay. This statement referred to Mary's gambling and credit card debts. Thus, the consideration of Mary's gambling problem under section 598.21(3)( j ) for the alimony award would be improper in view of the no-fault dissolution concept practiced in this state. Another argument Guy makes for consideration of Mary's gambling problem is based on her dissipation of the marital assets during the marriage. We have recognized it is proper for the court to consider a person's dissipation of assets when it makes a property distribution. See Goodwin, 606 N.W.2d at 321 (observing that a spouse's disposal of assets that would otherwise be subject to division in the dissolution may properly be considered in making an equitable distribution of the parties' property). Our court of appeals has applied this proposition in the context of a party's gambling debts. See In re Marriage of Bell, 576 N.W.2d 618, 624-25 (Iowa Ct.App.1998) (considering conduct of the husband in the property distribution based on the finding that the amounts of money [the husband] spent on gambling after the initiation of the dissolution proceedings [was] wasteful of marital assets), abrogated on other grounds by In re Marriage of Wendell, 581 N.W.2d 197, 200 (Iowa Ct.App.1998). The issue on appeal, however, does not concern the property settlement. We have also recognized that the court can consider an intentional dissipation of assets to avoid future support payments when it makes an award of alimony. See In re Marriage of Cerven, 335 N.W.2d 143, 146 (Iowa 1983) (stating that if the purpose of transferring one's assets prior to a dissolution of marriage is to protect oneself from future alimony payments, the court may look to the amount transferred in fixing alimony). We are not, however, now confronted with such a situation. Moreover, we should not consider the constraints a payor spouse would like to place on the payee spouse when the payee spouse uses the support in a manner inconsistent with the wishes of the payor spouse. Nor should a court punish a person who is entitled to support because we disapprove of the way the person receiving the support spends the support. Mary is entitled to support because of the factors set forth in Iowa Code section 598.21(3). Those factors indicate Mary is entitled to traditional alimony due to the minimal property distribution, her poor health, the length of the marriage, and the disparity in earning potential. If Mary spends her support on gambling, rather than on the necessities of life, she will have to live with the consequences of that decision, not Guy.