Divorce; Spousal support; Expenses & financial needs

Discerning no error by the trial court, the court affirmed the trial court’s award and amount of spousal support. At the core of the arguments, defendant-ex-husband’s claims were “seemingly premised on his belief that the trial court’s award of spousal support was inequitable and resulted from abuses of discretion by the trial court.” He claimed that the “support was inequitable in part because he was punished for his sexual orientation.” Specifically, he contended “the trial court improperly found him at fault on the basis of his sexual orientation.” However, the record belied his assertions. The court discerned “no error from the trial court’s findings, much less an encroachment of any of defendant’s civil liberties. Rather, the clear and unrebutted testimony was that defendant’s sexual orientation caused the dissolution of the marriage.” Defendant also contended “that the trial court erred by not adequately determining his income.” The court found the trial court’s findings as to his income were “thoroughly substantiated by the record.” Defendant argued “that the trial court erred in its determination of plaintiff’s income; however, this argument lacks support from the record.” He next argued “that the trial court erred in its discretion by failing to impute additional income to plaintiff, which defendant asserts should be $60,000 annually.” The court found that although “working 40 hours weekly could yield additional income, plaintiff has not been offered a position with that many weekly hours by her employer. From this record we discern no error by the trial court in establishing plaintiff’s income at $40,000 annually.” Defendant next argued “that the trial court erred by failing to identify each party’s expenses and financial needs postdivorce.” Again, the record demonstrated the contrary was true. Finally, as to his claim regarding his financial support of the parties’ adult daughter, the court held that there was “no such confusion as to why the trial court awarded spousal support.” The record also did “not support defendant will become impoverished by paying this award of spousal support.”