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676 So. 2d 365

Yates v. Yates

Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama

Decided April 5, 1996

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Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama · decided 1996-04-05

Key passage — most relied on by later courts

““The act of adultery may be proven by circumstantial evidence, but more than a mere suspicion must be created. In addition, the circumstances created must be ‘ “such as would lead the guarded discretion of a reasonable and just man to conclude that the act of adultery has been committed.” ’ Rowe v. Rowe, 575 So.2d 584, 587 (Ala.Civ.App.1991) (citation omitted). The testimony of one spouse as to the other spouse’s confession of adultery is, alone, insufficient to warrant a divorce on the grounds of adultery, and that testimony is admissible only in corroboration of other evidence tending to establish the offense. Percey v. Percey, 617 So.2d 682 (Ala.Civ. App.1992).””

quoted by 2 later decisions, including Langham v. Langham, 60 So. 3d 891 - Tucker v. Tucker

Relies on 485 So. 2d 1174 - Lutz v. Lutz · Rowe v. Rowe · Percey v. Percey

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1996-04-05

How this case has been cited

Cited by 7 later decisions — most recently July 2014

7 state decisions

30199620002010decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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¶1

¶2The trial court divorced the parties in July 1995 on the grounds of adultery by the husband, awarding the wife the marital home and custody of the parties' three minor children, dividing certain debts of the parties, and ordering the husband to pay child support. The husband appeals, contending, among other things, that, in light of the evidence submitted at trial, the court erred in basing the divorce upon the grounds of adultery.

¶3The wife sued the husband for separate maintenance and custody of the parties' children, alleging that the husband had committed adultery. The husband answered with a general denial and also moved to strike that portion of the wife's complaint alleging adultery; this motion was never ruled upon. The wife amended her complaint to ask the trial *366 court to divorce the parties on the grounds of an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and irreconcilable differences between the parties.

¶4The wife testified about the husband's adulterous relationship, stating that she had observed her husband kissing another woman and that he had admitted to her that he had committed adultery. The wife also stated that the husband had told her that be was in love with this other woman and that he was uncertain whether be would end the relationship. The wife's testimony was not contradicted or refuted at trial by the husband, although the husband's attorney referred to the affair during the cross-examination of the wife. The husband also testified and was cross-examined by the wife's attorney; however, he was not questioned concerning the charge of adultery.

¶5The trial judge stated at the end of the ore tenus proceedings that she was going to enter a divorce based on the grounds of incompatibility of temperament; however, her judgment based the divorce on the grounds of the husband's adultery. The husband appeals, alleging, among other things, that there was insufficient proof of adultery to support the judgment.

¶6The act of adultery may be proven by circumstantial evidence, but more than a mere suspicion must be created. In addition, the circumstances created must be " 'such as would lead the guarded discretion of a reasonable and just man to conclude that the act of adultery has been committed.' " Rowe v. Rowe,575 So.2d 584, 587 (Ala.Civ.App. 1991) (citation omitted). The testimony of one spouse as to the other spouse's confession of adultery is, alone, insufficient to warrant a divorce on the grounds of adultery, and that testimony is admissible only in corroboration of other evidence tending to establish the offense. Percey v. Percey, 617 So.2d 682 (Ala.Civ.App. 1992). Here, no other evidence of the husband's adultery was submitted to the trial court.

¶7We therefore conclude that the trial court erred in basing the divorce on the grounds of adultery; however, there was sufficient evidence to support the wife's claim of an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and of irreconcilable differences between the parties. Therefore, the trial court is instructed to modify its judgment so as to base the divorce upon the grounds of incompatibility.

¶8Our review of the divorce judgment does not indicate to us that in dividing the parties' property the trial court acted solely upon the fault theory of adultery; the record contains ample evidence of other misconduct by the husband, and we note that a trial court may properly consider fault when making a division of property, even when a divorce is based on the grounds of incompatibility. Lutz v. Lutz, 485 So.2d 1174 (Ala.Civ.App. 1986). Nevertheless, we instruct the trial court to review its property division in light of this opinion.

¶9Because of our holding, we pretermit discussion of the other issues raised by the husband.

¶10REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.

¶11CRAWLEY, J., concurs.

¶12ROBERTSON, P.J., concurs in the result only.

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