Court Opinion

ID: 9527229
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:28:43.448037+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:25:39.028056
License: Public Domain

On the Merits
The four assignments of error filed by appellant suggest in essence that the trial court’s judgment is not supported by the evidence.
In order for the trial court to modify a decree of divorce there must be a showing of changed circumstances since the divorce. Hora v. Hora, 46 Ala.App. 513, 244 So.2d 601.
As previously stated, the trial court heard the evidence ore tenus and when this is done at a hearing on a modification petition, the findings of the court are presumed correct and will not be disturbed on appeal unless it can be shown that the court was plainly and palpably in error. Murphree v. Henson, 289 Ala. 340, 267 So.2d 414. Furthermore, in matters concerning alimony each case must be decided on its own facts. Garlington v. Garlington, 246 Ala. 665, 22 So.2d 89.
The pertinent facts here show that appellee has remarried since the divorce in question and his new wife has three children. It is true that these three children *377were awarded support from their natural father in the sum of $75 per week, but it was also shown that the natural father was behind in his payments. The appellee also stated that it cost more than $75 per week to support these children, and that he now had his two teenage daughters to support,
While the remarriage alone is not sufficient to provide grounds for a modification, it is a factor to be considered along with other relevant circumstances. Garlington v. Garlington, supra.
The evidence also revealed that appellant was a woman of thirty three years, in good mental and physical health; had since the divorce decree earned a bachelor of science degree in biology and had completed about half of the requirements for a master’s degree in psychology; that during this period she had held two parttime jobs for several months, and that a person with a B.S. degree in biology should be able to earn $5,000 a year. It is reasonable to conclude from this evidence that appellant is now capable of working. In Young v. Young, 262 Ala. 254, 78 So.2d 265, it was held that the employment of the wife since the divorce is not in itself a ground for modification but is a circumstance to be considered, along with all the other relevant evidence of changed conditions, to determine whether there should be a modification of an alimony decree. Here the wife has not been employed full time but she now is capable of supporting herself through gainful employment. It was proper for the trial court to have considered this factor in arriving at its decision.
The appellee also stated that he had been contributing $200 per month to his parents’ support but had to discontinue these payments due to his other financial obligations. In deciding whether to award alimony, a trial court is authorized to consider whether the other party has support obligations for children or other relatives. See Ortman v. Ortman, 203 Ala. 167, 82 So. 417.
After a careful review of the evidence presented to the trial court, we cannot say that it was plainly and palpably in error in reducing the monthly alimony payments made to appellant by appellee from $450 to $250. Consequently, this cause is affirmed.
Motion overruled.
Affirmed.
WRIGHT, P. J., and HOLMES, J., concur.