Wright v. Hall

Case law and statutes validating an otherwise void marriage for purposes of protecting the children of the marriage were inapplicable to the case because the alimony award at issue was unrelated to the protection or interests of the parties' child.

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Russell James Wright and Debra Sue Hall were married in 1997 and divorced in 2000 under a divorce decree that required Wright to pay monthly alimony. In 2012 Wright filed a motion to set aside their divorce decree on the ground that Hall had committed fraud in marrying him when she was not divorced from her first husband. The trial court denied the motion, and we granted Wright’s application for discretionary appeal to consider whether the trial court erred. Because our statutes do not confer validity on an otherwise void marriage for the purpose of requiring the payment of alimony unrelated to the protection of children, we reverse the trial court’s decision.

Hall first married in 1986 when she was 17 years old. There is no evidence that she divorced her first husband. She had a son by Wright in 1996 and they married in 1997. Their 2000 divorce decree awarded custody of their son to Wright, ordered Hall to pay $50 per week in child support, and ordered Wright to pay $50 in alimony. Because these amounts offset each other, neither party made any payments. In 2007, Hall’s parental rights were terminated, which ended her child support obligations, and the couple’s child was adopted by Wright’s current wife. In 2011, Hall filed a contempt action alleging that Wright owed her alimony from the date her parental rights were terminated. In response, Wright filed a motion to set aside the divorce decree. Following a consolidated hearing, the trial court denied the motion to set aside and continued the contempt action to give Wright the opportunity to conduct discovery. Wright appeals, contending that his divorce decree was void because there was no valid marriage.

Wright v. Hall

Case law and statutes validating an otherwise void marriage for purposes of protecting the children of the marriage were inapplicable to the case because the alimony award at issue was unrelated to the protection or interests of the parties' child.

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