Court Opinion

ID: 9565389
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:19:58.304887+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:19:36.150412
License: Public Domain

Ingram, Justice,
dissenting.
Husbands beware and take heed. Under the majority decision there is now no way a loving, faithful and blameless husband can avoid paying alimony to an adulterous wife whose misconduct caused the death of the marriage. "The only issue to be resolved ... is the amount of alimony considering only the need of the wife and the ability of the husband to support her.” This solemn pronouncement by the court is not likely to encourage wives to behave themselves and remain loyal to their marriage vows. Indeed, it seems obvious to me that this holding will further weaken the bonds of the marriage contract in Georgia.
A female now knows that if she is looking for easy lifetime support with no concomitant responsibility she can come to Georgia, find herself an ambitious, industrious and eligible male resident who will be *894obligated by law to support her during and after their marriage regardless of her conduct and treatment of him. She knows that every divorce can.be turned into a no-fault divorce with the mere assertion that the marriage is irretrievably broken. She also knows that alimony cannot, at present, be granted to her husband. And now she knows that she can obtain alimony from her husband even if she breaks up the marriage. Thus, alimony may now be awarded in every case where the wife seeks it. The marriage contract has become a unilateral contract whereby the wife is insulated by law from bearing any responsibility for her breach of the contract. She can do no wrong to the husband that will prevent her from recovering alimony. Thus a wife who breaches the marriage contract can actually benefit by her own breach of the contract as a matter of law.
This is a radical departure from the long standing case law in our state. Indeed, it is a departure from what a majority of this court said only seven months ago in Loftis v. Loftis, 236 Ga. 637, 639 (225 SE2d 685) (1976): "This does not mean that, in the trial of other issues between the parties reserved for decision, either party is prevented from submitting relevant evidence to show, as he or she contends, the real cause of the separation and divorce. The fact finder, whether it be judge or jury, may consider such evidence in rendering a decision on the other issues between the parties.” I submit that it is both unfair and unwise decisional law to permit an adulterous wife (or a wife who deserts her husband) to control their resulting divorce litigation by turning it into a so-called "no-fault” divorce and thereby prevent the husband from showing "the real cause of the separation.” Unless the trial judge or jury can hear evidence of the wife’s adultery or desertion as a defense to her alimony claim, the scales of justice are heavily tipped in her favor. I still cling fervently to the principle that the object of all legal investigations is the discovery of the truth but the majority decision turns this ideal into a shattered illusion. The truth about the real cause of the separation will now be legally concealed behind this paper curtain of judicial legislation.
In conclusion, I view the holding in this case as a further rupture in the once revered public policy of our *895state to encourage marriage and to discourage its dissolution. I also think this decision is bad domestic relations law and bad contract law. For these reasons, I dissent and Justice Jordan also joins me in this dissent.11

 Fortunately, the alimony-paying ex-husband will be receiving some relief from another direction. The new Federal Income Tax Reform Act apparently allows a deduction for alimony in determining adjusted gross income for tax years beginning after December 31, 1976. Thus, under the Act the deduction of alimony payments is changed to a deduction from gross income instead of an itemized deduction. This should mean that a person paying alimony can get an alimony deduction even if he uses the standard deduction.