Court Opinion

ID: 9741626
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:59:38.883401+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:25.122294
License: Public Domain

Kelly, J.
(concurring). I concur in the holding that MCL 552.28; MSA 25.106 authorizes the circuit court to entertain the plaintiff’s petition to reinstate alimony. However, I write separately to express my concern about one aspect of this Court’s decision. The Court should have addressed the appropriateness of the trial court’s December 19, 1991, order conditioning alimony upon plaintiff’s not residing with a member of the opposite sex without benefit of marriage.
Parties are generally free to contract for a wide range of alimony contingencies. However, the same conditions imposed by a trial court should be more closely scrutinized on appeal. In this case, the trial court apparently imposed the noncohabitation condition on its own initiative. That imposition, as well as the trial court’s later decision to terminate alimony without the benefit of a hearing on the merits, raises *381significant due process and equal protection issues. In addition, a discussion of the trial court’s sua sponte action would provide guidance to future courts. Thus, I would grant leave to consider the appropriateness of the trial court’s unsolicited imposition of a noncohabitation requirement as a condition to the receipt of alimony.