Joye v. Yon

South Carolina Court of Appeals · Family Law

Family LawAlimonyRemarriageAnnulmentperiodic alimonyremarriageannulmentvoid marriage

Facts

The parties divorced in 1996, and the decree required Yon to pay Joye $750 per month in periodic alimony. In March 1999, Joye participated in a marriage ceremony with Donald Vance, and Yon stopped paying alimony two days later. Joye then learned Vance had never divorced his prior wife, filed an annulment action in May 1999, and obtained an annulment in September 1999. The family court later ruled Yon was not in contempt but reinstated alimony on the ground that no marriage ever legally existed between Joye and Vance.

Issue

Does a supported spouse's participation in a marriage ceremony automatically terminate periodic alimony under South Carolina law when the later marriage is void because the new spouse was already married? Also, was Yon required to be joined as a party to the annulment action before alimony could be reinstated?

Rule

Under South Carolina law, periodic alimony terminates under section 20-3-130(B)(1) only when the supported spouse enters a legally recognized remarriage. A bigamous marriage is void ab initio and has no legal effect, so participation in a marriage ceremony alone does not terminate alimony when the later marriage is void; South Carolina follows the void/voidable approach.

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One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

A divorce decree entered in Columbia requires Ethan Mercer to pay periodic alimony to Dana Mercer. Two years later, Dana participates in a wedding ceremony in Charleston with Leo Grant, but Leo is still legally married to another woman; Dana later obtains an annulment after learning that fact.

Under the majority rule applied by the South Carolina Court of Appeals, what is the best result regarding Ethan’s periodic alimony obligation?

Explanation. Periodic alimony terminates only upon the supported spouse’s legally recognized remarriage. A bigamous marriage is void ab initio in South Carolina and is treated as no marriage at all, so participation in a ceremony alone does not terminate alimony. The majority expressly rejected automatic termination based merely on the ceremony.