Woman Pleads to Stop Alimony Paid to Ex-Husband Accused of Killing New Husband - East Idaho News
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Woman Pleads to Stop Alimony Paid to Ex-Husband Accused of Killing New Husband

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alimony?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1409079707261iStock/Thinkstock(LINDON, Utah) — Paying alimony to an ex-spouse can be one of those grin-and-bear-it obligations for some, but it’s an especially galling burden for a Utah woman whose ex-husband stands accused of killing her new husband.

Joy Sidwell, from Lindon, Utah, asked a judge on Monday to allow her to halt the $500 a month alimony payments to her ex, Fred Lee, who allegedly killed her new husband in July.

Lee, 59, is in the Utah County Jail and set to face aggravated murder charges, among others, authorities said.

On July 3, he told police that he was searching for Sidwell “to kill her,” according to court documents. Lee entered a home in search of his ex-wife, but shot and killed her current husband, police said.

Sidwell filed for protective orders and stalking complaints against Lee in 2005 and 2007, but said this alimony issue is another obstacle in the legal system.

“It’s going to take a long time to see justice in the court for the trial of the murder, but this would at least be justice for right now,” Sidwell told KSL News on Monday.

“I shouldn’t need an attorney to have it stopped,” Sidwell, who does not have an attorney, told KSL News. “It should be a simple cut-and-dried thing.”

Sidwell said she plans to return to court Sept. 15 to once again request a stop to alimony payments, and Lee will have the legal right to contest her petition.

Though the Utah government website does not address an unusual situation like this case, it does reference the role of material changes in modifying alimony payments.

According to Utah state law, “if there are substantial material changes in circumstances not foreseeable at the time of divorce, either party may petition the court for an order modifying alimony. However, the court may not modify alimony to address needs of the recipient that did not exist at the time the decree was entered, unless there are special reasons for doing so.”


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