Family Court judges must factor in the principal of an individual’s inheritance, not just the interest income he or she receives from the inheritance, when determining if someone is dependent for the purposes of calculating how much alimony he or she should receive, the Delaware Supreme Court has ruled. The high court issued the decision when it reversed a Family Court alimony award because the judge excluded the principal of the wife’s inheritance when determining her financial resources.
“The Family Court improperly excluded any consideration of the principal of the inheritance from the wife’s financial resources,” said Justice Randy J. Holland in Thomas v. Thomas. “The complete exclusion of those substantial funds from the calculation of the wife’s dependency was contrary to the alimony statute and constituted an error of law.”
