Judy Smith Stewart v. Johnnie Stewart

This is the second appeal in this matter involving applicability of the parties’ agreement, embodied in their 1997 final decree of divorce, regarding issues related to the dissolution of their marriage. In May 2012, the husband sought to terminate his alimony obligation pursuant to said agreement, citing a material change of circumstances affecting his ability to pay. The trial court dismissed the husband’s motion, concluding that the language of the parties’ agreement rendered his alimony obligation non-modifiable. Husband timely appealed. Because we determine the husband’s alimony obligation to be modifiable, we reverse the trial court’s dismissal of the husband’s motion and remand this action to the trial court for a hearing to determine whether a modification of the husband’s alimony obligation is warranted. We vacate the trial court’s taxing of court costs to Husband, and we deny Husband’s request for an award of attorney’s fees on appeal.