Helen Hughes Richards v. Atherton Richards

Summary

The court affirmed the divorce decree in most respects but held that temporary alimony should be retroactive to the date the divorce libel was filed and that reasonable attorney and expert-witness fees should have been awarded. It also held that the governing statute permits an independent cash award in lieu of an in-kind property division, but that the wife failed to establish a meritorious claim to the husband's principal property. The court upheld the amount of permanent alimony because it could not find an abuse of discretion.