S.C. Court of Appeals holds that 24 years is too long to wait to enforce award of alimony

In Kelley v. Kelley, the family court found Wife’s delay in seeking to enforce award of alimony was unreasonable. It was undisputed that there has been at least a twenty-four year delay from the original divorce order to the present action. Alimony was awarded to Wife in the 1974 divorce decree, reiterated in a 1977 order, and the present action was not commenced until 2001. Although Wife received an order in 1978 holding Husband in contempt, she admittedly never served Husband or his counsel. Despite seeing Husband at numerous gatherings over the years, including the weddings of both sons, Wife failed to have Husband served with the order.