Opinion ID: 1653066
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: credit for pre-judgment alimony

Text: William paid Margaret $1,000 a month for thirteen months between the signing of the agreement and trial. In a separate Stipulation and Order entered at the time of trial, William agreed to continue these payments until judgment, provided the court would credit the alimony portion of his pre-judgment payments against any lump sum alimony the judgment might award to Margaret. William continued the $1,000 monthly payment for an additional seventeen months until entry of the judgment awarding Margaret $750 monthly in child support and $500 monthly in rehabilitative alimony for five years. William argues that the $250 per month by which his pre-judgment payments to Margaret exceeded the child support award, totaling $7,500 over thirty months, should be applied to the rehabilitative alimony award in accordance with the Stipulation and Order. However, the Stipulation and Order promises to credit William's pre-judgment alimony payments only against an award of permanent alimony reduced to a lump sum. The trial court awarded no such alimony to Margaret, but instead granted her rehabilitative alimony in periodic payments over a limited period of time. This type of alimony fell outside the scope of the stipulation entered into with the court's approval, and the court ordered the rehabilitative alimony with full knowledge of the prior payments and the stipulation. In awarding alimony, the trial court must consider the length of the marriage, the parties' respective earning capacities, the effect of the property division, the age and physical condition of the parties, their accustomed standard of living, and the degree of relative fault. Baltzer v. Baltzer, 422 N.W.2d 584, 587 (S.D.1988); Cole v. Cole, 384 N.W.2d 312, 316 (S.D.1986). In addition, the award of rehabilitative alimony must be designed to meet an educational need or plan of action whose existence finds some support in the record. Ryken v. Ryken, 440 N.W.2d 300, 303 (S.D.1989). Taking these factors into account, we find that the award of $500 per month in alimony for five years in addition to the pre-judgment payments was not an abuse of discretion.