Court Opinion

ID: 9685424
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 14:37:02.141387+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:05.769254
License: Public Domain

SABERS, Justice
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent.
The settlement of the appeal in 1983 was based on $400 per month alimony until June 1987, and it permitted either side to petition the court based on circumstances of June 1987. Paragraph 3 of the agreement provided:
*375Both parties to this agreement agree that during the month of June, 1987, either or both parties can petition the Court to reconsider the issue of alimony based on the circumstances of both parties as of that time.
The need for showing a change of circumstances was contracted away. Under the agreement, no change of circumstances is necessary to justify alimony payments. The cases cited in the majority opinion on that point do not apply. Therefore, the trial court’s refusal to award alimony was an abuse of discretion under these circumstances.
The circumstances are: James Wright, as a retired Reverend/Colonel receives a vested, matured military pension of more than $19,000 per year, a military disability allotment, and a salary and substantial fringe benefits from his present employment as a minister. In contrast, Phyllis, an ex-spouse of thirty-five years, has only a weekly wage, no fringe benefits, and no pensions. Additionally, she must rely on a meager $135 per month social security payment upon retirement.
Phyllis’ closing argument is persuasive: Even though the Reverend/Colonel fails to meet his biblical obligations as set forth in the Book of Malachi, Chapter 2, Verse 15: “Do not treat unjustly the wife of your youth.” Phyllis asks this Court to follow the law of the land ... [so that she will not end] up a burden on society, ... because of judicial error.
I would follow the law of the land, and require James Wright to treat the wife of his youth justly so that she does not end up a burden on 'society because of judicial error. I would reverse and remand to the trial court to award alimony in some proper amount. Temple v. Temple, 365 N.W.2d 561 (S.D.1985).