Permanent Alimony. 26 Year Marriage.

Permanent Alimony. 26 Year Marriage. Brenda Kay Shooster v. Raymond Shooster, Tennessee Court of Appeals at Knoxville, Filed March 6, 2009. Wife was 53 years old at the time of trial; husband was 47 years old. Wife did not offer any testimony that her medical condition interfered with her ability to work; wife had considerable health problems that could significantly impact her productivity. The parties had been married for 26 years, with wife's major contribution to the marriage being as homemaker, wife and mother. The wife was unable to achieve an earning capacity that would permit her to have a standard of living after the divorce comparable to the post-divorce standard of living for husband. The Court of Appeals upheld trial court judgment that wife is not capable of economic rehabilitation to support a reasonable standard of living. At the time of trial, husband’s annual income was $65,000. Husband ordered to pay $1,500 a month in permanent alimony, pay wife's health insurance premiums and maintain a life insurance policy on himself for benefit of wife.