Court Opinion

ID: 9781454
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 16:38:31.173607+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:34:04.173865
License: Public Domain

LOCKEMY, J.
concurring.
While I concur in the majority decision to reverse and remand, I write separately to present the idea that once a party has retired at a particular age, that may constitute changed circumstances for purposes of modification of alimony.
Other jurisdictions have used an approach that I find relevant to the case at bar. See, e.g., Pimm v. Pimm, 601 So.2d 534 (Fla.1992); Smith v. Smith, 419 A.2d 1035 (Me.1980); Silvan v. Sylvan, 267 N.J.Super. 578, 632 A.2d 528 (Ct.App.Div.1993); McFadden v. McFadden, 386 Pa.Super. 506, 563 A.2d 180 (1989). In determining whether retirement at a particular age constitutes such changed circumstances as would justify a modification of alimony, I believe there are a variety of factors to consider. This court may analyze “the age gap between the parties; whether at the time of the initial alimony award any attention was given by the parties to the possibility of future retirement; whether the particular retirement was mandatory or voluntary; whether the particular retirement occurred earlier than might have been anticipated at the time alimony was awarded; and the financial impact of that retirement upon the respective financial positions of the *166parties.” Silvan, 632 A.2d at 530. It may also assess “the motivation which led to the decision to retire, i.e., was it reasonable under all the circumstances or motivated primarily by a desire to reduce the alimony of a former spouse.” Id. This court may also wish to consider “the degree of control retained by the parties over the disbursement of their retirement income, e.g., the ability to defer receipt of some or all.” Id. In addition, it may consider whether either spouse has transferred assets to others, thus reducing the amount available to meet their financial needs and obligations. Id. This list of factors is meant to be illustrative, not exhaustive.
One court put it aptly, stating, “[j]ust as a married couple may expect a reduction in income due to retirement, a divorced spouse cannot expect to receive the same high level of support after the supporting spouse retires.” In re Marriage of Reynolds, 63 Cal.App.4th 1373, 74 Cal.Rptr.2d 636, 640 (1998) (holding that no one may be compelled to work after the usual retirement age of 65 in order to pay the same level of spousal support as when he was employed).
To give further support to the idea that retirement at a particular age could be sufficient to constitute a change of circumstances, I note Social Security is payable at its maximum level at age 65.1 See 42 U.S.C. § 416(l)(1) (Supp.2011); see also 42 U.S.C. § 402(a) (2000). By setting this age limit, the United States government is acknowledging there is a time when a person should be able to reflect on the short year we call life, hear the fog horn of the reality that is fast approaching, and say, as in the September Song: “Oh the days dwindle down, to a precious few, September, November ...” Walter Huston, September Song (1938). Furthermore, the South Carolina legislature, similar to most other state legislatures, has enacted life expectancy tables which declare that a healthy male at the age of 67, as Husband is in this case, can expect to live only 15.37 more years — “September, November....” See S.C.Code Ann. § 19-1-150 (1985).
Governments, nationally and locally, enact mandatory retirement for certain professions based upon the age of a person, rather than based upon the number of years employed. For example, in South Carolina, judges cannot active*167ly serve past the age of 72, regardless of the number of years on the bench. S.C.Code Ann. § 9-8-60 (Supp.2010). In another example, regular commissioned officers in the military are required to retire at age sixty-two, with limited exceptions. 10 U.S.C. § 1251(a) (2006).
If our state and federal statutes, jurisprudence and popular culture recognize that advancing age in and of itself justifies limiting opportunities and obligations in life, why then should it not apply as a consideration in alimony reduction? Shall we deny those “precious few” days from September to December as a time of consummation of the non-pecuniary parts of existence? Archibald Rutledge2 described it well when telling of an elderly man who had all the necessities and more life could provide. As will happen to many others, he lay one day on a bed, deathly ill, with all the medicine and manmade comforts at his side, “but he had small comfort in them. But the moonlight, and the hale fragrances, and the wild song of the bird — these brought peace to his heart.” Archibald Rutledge, Life’s Extras (Fleming H. Revell 1928). Because the luring and lucrative parts of life have caused one to ignore them for 65 years should justice deny the appreciation of life’s extras for the few years that remain based on the physical ability to continue to work?
The family court thought not and found alimony should be restructured based on his reduced retirement income. I would agree with the family court decision but for the lack of a record as to what may have been agreed to or contemplated by the parties when the alimony determination was originally negotiated. It could be that Husband promised certain benefits even after 65.3 Moreover, some or all of the above mentioned factors relating to retirement at a particular age may apply. Therefore, I would reverse and remand for that determination.

. Depending upon the birth year, this age may differ slightly.

. In 1934, Archibald Rutledge became South Carolina’s first poet laureate. 1934 S.C. Acts 736; Joseph M. Flora, Southern Writers: A Biographical Dictionary 391 (Robert Bain et al. eds., Louisiana State University Press 1979).

. Whether such an agreement would be against public policy has never been examined in this state.