Donald Capparella Secures Corrections to Alimony Judgments in the Court of Appeals

Donald Capparella recently argued two cases before the Court of Appeals seeking review of alimony awards.

In one case, the trial court reduced Husband’s alimony obligation due to a disability that occurred after the divorce was final. Capparella asked the appellate court to reverse the trial court’s order because the Husband’s disability did not actually affect his net income.  The Court of Appeals agreed, restoring Wife’s original award of alimony and ordering Husband to pay Wife’s attorney fees at the trial and appellate levels, as well as arrearages for unpaid alimony.

In the other case, the Husband was ordered to pay alimony based on the needs of the Wife, so that she could continue living a similar lifestyle to the one she enjoyed during the marriage. The trial court found that Wife was capable of earning an income, but did not include this finding when calculating the amount of alimony to be paid. Capparella asked the appellate court to consider the earning capabilities of Wife when determining the amount of alimony that should be ordered. The Court of Appeals adopted Capparella’s argument and reduced Husband’s alimony obligation by the amount of Wife’s income capability.

In both cases the Court of Appeals agreed with Capparella and his clients were awarded the relief they sought. You can read more information about these two cases in the Dodson Parker Law Blog.