FREEMAN VS. FREEMAN (DIVORCE PROPERTY & ALIMONY)

Statutes cited

Key holdings

Practitioner summary

McNamee, J. Permanent alimony is wholly a creature of statute; there is no common-law power to grant it. Contrary to the appellant's contention, a Nevada court is not compelled to award alimony to a wife merely because she is granted the divorce - the allowance of permanent alimony rests in the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse. The court read Cunningham v. Cunningham, 60 Nev. 191, 102 P.2d 94 (1940), as meaning only that a proper alimony award will not be disturbed, not that alimony is a matter of right. On this record (a short marriage, an employable wife, and limited facts, the divorce-grounds transcript having been omitted at appellant's request), no abuse of discretion appeared in denying alimony. The division of property under NRS 125.150(1) likewise rests in the trial court's discretion, and its resolution of conflicting evidence as to separate-versus-community character and as to gifts would not be disturbed. Affirmed.

In plain language

After a short marriage, the wife was granted a divorce on her counterclaim. She did not challenge the divorce itself, but appealed the parts of the judgment dividing the property and denying her alimony and support. She argued that because she was the spouse granted the divorce, the court was required to award her at least some alimony. The Nevada Supreme Court affirmed. It held that permanent alimony is entirely a creature of statute and that a court is not compelled to award alimony to a wife just because she is granted the divorce; the decision rests in the trial court's sound discretion. On this record - a short marriage, an employable wife who intended to return to work, and a husband she described as generally good - the court found no abuse of discretion in denying alimony. The division of property was likewise within the trial court's discretion, and its resolution of conflicting evidence about which assets were separate and which items were gifts would not be disturbed on appeal.