## Facts

- Frank Jenkins (husband) and Brenda Jenkins (wife) were married in 1983.
- During the marriage, Frank owned and managed a mobile home park (about 95 lots) that generated roughly $12,000 per month in gross rent (about $150 per lot), before expenses.
- Brenda moved out of the marital home and refused to return.
- Brenda filed for divorce on April 15, 2002, and requested interim and final (permanent) periodic spousal support.
- Frank opposed final periodic support, arguing Brenda “deserted” him by leaving the matrimonial domicile and was therefore at fault and barred from final support.
- Brenda testified that while living with Frank he drank to excess on a daily basis and that his drinking led to abusive treatment, making continued cohabitation intolerable.
- The trial court found Brenda was free from fault in the breakup of the marriage and awarded spousal support. Frank appealed the fault finding and the award.

## Issues

1. Whether Brenda’s leaving the matrimonial domicile amounted to abandonment (fault) that disqualified her from final periodic spousal support under Louisiana law.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion in setting the amount of final periodic spousal support in light of Brenda’s needs and Frank’s resources, including income from the mobile home park.
3. Whether the trial court erred in its interim-support rulings, including the transition from interim support to final support and any related arrears calculations.

## Decision

- The Louisiana Second Circuit held that Brenda was not at fault in the dissolution of the marriage because her departure was for lawful cause based on Frank’s excessive drinking and abusive conduct.
- The court therefore sustained Brenda’s entitlement to final periodic spousal support.
- The court reviewed the amount of support under the abuse-of-discretion standard, considering Brenda’s needs and Frank’s ability to pay in light of the evidence of his income-producing property and claimed expenses.
- The court addressed the interim-support rulings and the timing and calculation of any amounts due during the shift from interim support to final support, and otherwise left the trial court’s support determinations in place.

## Legal Principles

- Final periodic spousal support in Louisiana is available only to a spouse who is free from fault in the dissolution of the marriage. La. Civ. Code art. 111.
- “Fault” is serious marital misconduct that is an independent, substantial cause of the marriage’s breakup; it is not established merely because a spouse left the marital home.
- A spouse who leaves the matrimonial domicile is not at fault when the departure is justified by lawful cause, including habitual intemperance and abusive treatment that renders continued living together insupportable.
- A trial court’s fault determination often turns on credibility findings, which appellate courts generally will not disturb absent manifest error.
- The amount of final periodic spousal support is reviewed for abuse of discretion and depends primarily on the claimant’s needs and the obligor’s ability to pay, evaluated from the totality of the financial record (including income from business or rental property).
- Interim support is designed to maintain the dependent spouse during the divorce proceeding, and disputes about duration, offsets, and arrears depend on the governing orders and the dates those orders take effect.

## Conclusion

Jenkins v. Jenkins holds that a spouse who leaves the matrimonial domicile is not automatically at fault for purposes of final periodic spousal support; where the leaving spouse proves lawful cause—here, the other spouse’s excessive drinking and resulting abusive behavior—the leaving spouse remains eligible for final support, and the trial court’s support determinations are reviewed with deference to its credibility findings and discretion on amount and related interim-support administration.


Jenkins v. Jenkins, 882 So. 2d 705 (2004)