Articles Posted in Alimony
March 19, 2025
by SmartSites
In order to impute income to a voluntarily unemployed or underemployed spouse, the party seeking to impute income must prove that there are current and available employment opportunities for which the spouse is qualified. The spouse’s employment potential and probable earnings are based upon the spouse’s recent work history, occupational qualifications and the prevailing earnings level in the community.
In a case captioned Douglas v. Douglas, the husband appealed several of the rulings that the trial court made in the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage. The parties were married for eight years. They were the parents of two children. The wife was a stay-at-home mother, who took care of the parties’ children during the course of the marriage. She did not work outside of the marital home during the marriage. After the parties separated, the wife unsuccessfully applied for over thirty jobs during the parties’ separation.
The husband was a professional basketball player. During his career, he played for the New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors and the Miami Heat. Recently, the husband played on a number of European teams. The wife filed the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage.
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March 19, 2025
by SmartSites
In an alimony case captioned Waldera v. Waldera, the trial court was presented with evidence concerning the Husband’s income during the previous ten years. However, the trial court only considered the Husband’s income during the one year period that preceded the entry of the Final Judgment. The Florida Court of Appeal ruled that this was error.
Calculating alimony was recently discussed by the Florida Court of Appeal in a case captioned Waldera v. Waldera. In Waldera v. Waldera the case, the Wife appealed the amount of the alimony that was awarded to her by the trial court in the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage. She argued that the trial judge reached an erroneous alimony determination, by improperly calculating her Husband’s income. In reaching its calculation, the trial court relied solely on the Husband’s income for one year. The Florida Court of Appeal agreed with the Wife that this was an error.
The appellate court pointed out that in making an alimony determination, a trial court is required look at all sources of income that are available to both parties. For purposes of determining alimony, income is considered to be any type of payment, regardless of the source. Income includes salary, bonuses, commissions, and earnings as an independent contractor. In awarding alimony, courts are required to consider all economic factors, including income, past earnings, net worth, and the parties’ assets. In this case, although the trial court was presented with evidence concerning the Husband’s income between 2009 and 2016, the trial court only considered the income that Husband earned during the year preceding the entry of the Final Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage. The appellate court pointed out that there is a presumption that a payor will continue to earn the same amount that he or she has historically earned, unless there is evidence to the contrary.
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March 19, 2025
by SmartSites
Florida’s alimony statute requires courts to consider the standard of living that was established by the parties throughout the course of their marriage. Its purpose is to provide for the needs and necessities of life for the recipient spouse as they were established during the course of the parties’ marriage. It is one of eleven statutory factors that Florida Courts are required to consider in awarding alimony.
In a recently decided case captioned Morgan v. Morgan, the Florida Court of Appeal ruled that the size of an alimony award is based upon the standard of living that was established by the parties during the course of the marriage, and not the parties’ postseparation lifestyle.
In Morgan v. Morgan, the husband appealed the final judgment of dissolution of marriage. He challenged the trial court’s alimony award and the equitable distribution of the parties’ assets. The Florida Court of Appeal reversed both of the trial court’s rulings on these issues.
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March 19, 2025
by SmartSites
Alimony payments may be reduced or terminated when a former spouse enters into a supportive relationship. The payor bears the burden to prove that a supportive relationship exists. Some of the factors that Florida courts assess in determining whether a supportive relationship exists are as follows:
First, whether the recipient and the cohabiting party have held themselves out as a married couple.
Second, the amount of time that the parties have resided together in a permanent residence.
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March 19, 2025
by SmartSites
The Florida alimony reform bill passed the Florida legislature and was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on June 30, 2023. This bill will have a significant impact on how alimony will be awarded in Florida. It applies to all initial petitions for dissolution of marriage that are filed or pending on July 1, 2023, and to certain supplemental petitions for modification of alimony. The following is a brief synopsis of how alimony will be awarded in Florida under this new legislation.
First, the bill eliminates permanent alimony. In its place, will be four types of alimony. They will be temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative and durational alimony. Courts may order alimony to be paid in a lump sum or as periodic payments.
Second, courts will be permitted to consider the adultery of either spouse and its resulting economic impact in determining the amount of alimony to award.
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March 19, 2025
by SmartSites
Florida Alimony Reform legislation recently failed in the Florida legislature with the early departure of the Florida House of Representatives on April 28, 2015. A special session for the Florida legislature is likely to take place on June 1, 2015, however, Alimony Reform legislation may or may not be addressed at that time.
The main point of disagreement between the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate was language that was contained in the Florida Senate version of the alimony reform bill which provided that equal time-sharing with minor children by both parents is presumed to be in the best interest of the children. The members of the Florida House of Representatives felt that each case is unique, and that the courts are in the best position to reach time-sharing determinations without preconceived guidelines. Whether consensus is able to be reached on these positions is yet to be determined.
The Alimony Reform bill created guidelines, comprised of presumptive alimony amounts and presumptive alimony durations.
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March 19, 2025
by SmartSites
The pending Florida Alimony Reform Bill was recently revised in the Florida Senate. The original version of the bill was replaced by a committee substitute. The revised bill creates new alimony guidelines. In calculating alimony, the Court is to first calculate the amount of each party’s monthly gross income. Included in a party’s monthly gross income are the actual income that a party earns and the potential income that a party could earn. Additionally, included in a party’s monthly gross income are the actual income that a party earns from nonmarital property and marital assets distributed to that party, as well as potential income that a party could earn from nonmarital property and marital assets distributed to that party. In calculating the difference between the parties’ monthly gross income, the income of the party seeking alimony is be subtracted from the income of the other party. If this is a negative number, the presumptive alimony amount is $0.
The legislation in the Florida Senate creates a presumptive range for the duration that alimony is to be paid and a presumptive range for the amount of alimony that is to be paid. The low end of the presumptive range for the amount of alimony that is to be paid is to be paid is calculated by using the following formula: (0.015 x the years of marriage) x the difference between the monthly gross incomes of the parties. The high end of the presumptive range for the amount of alimony that is to be paid is calculated by using the following formula: (0.020 x the years of marriage) x the difference between the monthly gross incomes of the parties. In calculating the presumptive alimony amount range, twenty (20) years of marriage is used to calculate the low end and the high end for marriages of twenty (20) years or more. If a court establishes the duration of the alimony award at fifty (50%) percent or less of the length of the marriage, the court shall use the actual years of the marriage, up to a maximum of twenty-five (25) years, to calculate the high end of the presumptive alimony amount range. The duration of a marriage is determined from the date of the marriage until the date of the filing of the divorce.
The low end of the presumptive range for the duration that alimony is to be paid is calculated by using the following formula: 0.25 x the years of marriage. The high end of the presumptive range for the duration that alimony is to be paid is calculated by using the following formula: 0.7 5 x the years of marriage.
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March 19, 2025
by SmartSites
In an alimony case captioned Speigner v. Speigner, the parties were married for almost twenty (20) years. Both parties worked during the course of the marriage. The Husband had the larger income. The Wife worked, raised the parties’ children and ran the household.
After hearing the evidence, the trial court found that the Wife had a need for support and the former husband had the ability to pay. The court stated that the Wife had significant business acumen and found that both the Husband and the Wife had the capacity to earn additional income. The trial court awarded the Wife eight years of durational alimony.
The Florida Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s ruling. In reversing the lower court’s ruling the appellate court pointed out that in Florida, a long-term marriage is a marriage that exceeds seventeen years. There is a rebuttable presumption that permanent alimony will be awarded following a long-term marriage. This presumption can only be rebutted if there is proof that after termination of the alimony payments the recipient spouse has the capacity to support him or herself at the marital standard of living. Durational alimony is only appropriate if the court finds that the recipient spouse does not have an ongoing need for support on a permanent basis. In order to justify an award of durational alimony following a long-term marriage, a court must find that the recipient spouse is capable of attaining a level of self-support that is commensurate with the marital standard of living at the time that the durational alimony expires.
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March 19, 2025
by SmartSites
A recently decided alimony case captioned Rodolph v. Rodolph involved two appeals by the husband. Since both appeals involved the same parties and the same facts, the Florida Court of Appeal consolidated the cases into one appeal. In Rodolph v. Rodolph, the husband appealed the lower court’s order denying his Supplemental Petition for Termination or Modification of Alimony. Additionally, the Husband appealed the award of $39,000.00 in attorney’s fees to his wife.
In this case, the husband and wife were married for 33 years. At the time of the divorce, the Husband had been a corrections officer for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office for twenty-four years. In the final judgment of dissolution, the wife was granted permanent periodic alimony and a portion of husband’s retirement funds. Husband filed a Supplemental Petition to Either Modify or Terminate Alimony. Husband’s Supplemental Petition for Modification of Alimony alleged that husband did not have the ability to continue to pay alimony because he was involuntarily unemployed due to his heart condition, his neck and back problems, and carpal tunnel syndrome in his wrist and arm. Husband also alleged that his wife no longer had a need for alimony because she received the first share of husband’s retirement funds, she was receiving disability payments and her monthly expenses were reduced. While Husband’s Supplemental Petition for Modification was pending, Wife filed a Motion for Contempt of Court against Husband because Husband ceased making alimony payments.
At the hearing on husband’s Supplemental Petition for Modification of Alimony, husband testified that he was receiving social security payments, but was earning no income. He also testified that he remarried and was living with his new wife and her children. Husband purchased a new home and incurred various expenses. In order to meet his expenses, husband withdrew $3,500 per month from his retirement account. Wife testified that her expenses for rent, association fees, water, garbage, insurance, cable, and donations to religious organizations exceeded her income.
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March 19, 2025
by SmartSites
Durational alimony terminates when either of the parties dies or the recipient of alimony remarries.
In a unique case captioned Dills v. Perez the parties’ marital settlement agreement contained a provision that stated that the former husband’s obligation to pay durational alimony to the former wife was non-modifiable. At the time that the parties got divorced, they entered into a marital settlement agreement that was incorporated into their final judgment of dissolution of marriage.
The parties’ marital settlement agreement required the former husband to pay durational alimony to the former wife for a period of forty-eight (48) months. Additionally, the parties’ marital settlement agreement contained a provision that the former husband’s obligation to pay durational alimony was non-modifiable. Although the parties’ marital settlement agreement contained a provision that the former husband’s alimony obligation would not terminate upon the former husband’s death, it did not specifically discuss the effect that remarriage would have on the former husband’s durational alimony obligation.
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