- 5 - The first difficulty in this area of law is that different states define “alimony” differently--in some states it means what it does in Federal tax law, but in others it can mean something quite different. See, e.g., Hoover v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1995-183 (1995), (Ohio using “alimony” to mean both property settlements and periodic support payments), affd. 102 F.3d 842 (6th Cir. 1996). And the dichotomy between property settlements and alimony that tax law draws--grows steadily murkier as different types of post-divorce payments proliferate. Tennessee divorce law, for example, used to classify all alimony as either in solido (roughly equivalent to property settlements) or in futuro (roughly equivalent to section 71 alimony). Bryan v. Leach, 85 S.W.3d 136, 145 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2001). Then, in 1984, the Tennessee legislature created “rehabilitative alimony,” explaining in the new statute: It is the intent of the general assembly that a spouse who is economically disadvantaged, relative to the other spouse, be rehabilitated whenever possible by the granting of an order for payment of rehabilitative, temporary support and maintenance. * * * Acts 1984, ch. 818, secs. 1-3, codified in Tenn. Code Ann. sec. 36-5-101(d)(1) (2001 & Supp. 2004); see also Cranford v. Cranford, 772 S.W.2d 48, 50-51 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1989), revd. on other grounds at Bogan v. Bogan, 60 S.W.3d 721 (Tenn. 2001); Gotten v. Gotten, 748 S.W.2d 430 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1987).Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011