Court Opinion

ID: 9571549
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:32:35.755042+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:30:34.393373
License: Public Domain

Sears-Collins, Justice,
dissenting.
I disagree with the majority’s holding that the trial court’s awards of alimony and child support are not supported by the evidence. When sitting as the trier of fact, as was the trial court in this case, a trial court is given wide latitude in awarding alimony and may consider a husband’s ability to earn income. Worrell v. Worrell, 242 Ga. 44, 45-46 (2) (247 SE2d 847) (1978). In fact, based on earning ability, alimony may be awarded even though “the husband may be temporarily impoverished.” Id. at 46. Here, the trial court found that the appellant had the ability to earn $32,000 per year. There is some evidence to support this finding, namely that for four of the five years preceding the parties’ separation the appellant earned salaries ranging from a low of $44,259 to a high of $52,832. I thus must conclude that there is some evidence to support the trial court’s awards of alimony and child support. In order to conclude that there is no evidence to support the trial court’s award, the majority must offer some reason why the trial court could not have relied on the evidence of the appellant’s earning ability in making its awards. The majority, however, has failed to offer any such explanation. Instead, the majority has weighed all the evidence, and, acting as the trier of fact, has found that it would have reached a different result than the trial court. This is not the function of an appellate court. The majority should not substitute its judgment for that of the trial court, when the trial court, and not this Court, had the opportunity to observe the credibility of witnesses, including the appellant, at a temporary alimony hearing, at a contempt hearing on the temporary alimony award, and finally at the trial of the case. For the foregoing reasons, I dissent.
I am authorized to state that Justice Benham joins in this dissent.