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Alimony

ALIMONY IN NORTHEAST FLORIDA

Alimony is an often an issue that needs to be addressed in both contested divorce cases and uncontested divorce cases.

Preparing for an Alimony Case

The first and most important factor family law judges consider when issuing an alimony award is need and ability to pay. To award alimony, the court must find that the payor can afford to pay and the payee has a need. Ground zero for a court’s need and ability to pay analysis is the parties’ financial affidavits.

In most family law cases, Florida requires the filing and/or exchange of financial affidavits within forty-five (45) days of the service of the divorce petition. A financial affidavit contains a ledger of a party’s monthly expenses. To prepare for an alimony case, it is imperative to analyze the stated monthly expenses of both parties. It is very common for a party to overstate their monthly expenses in an attempt to enhance their chances of receiving a sizable alimony award or to reduce their ability to pay.

To properly analyze a party’s need or ability to pay in preparation for a hearing, I will issue a request to produce to obtain a party’s last three years of bank and credit card statements. After reviewing the statements, I often construct summaries of bank and credit card statements to develop a picture of the party’s true expenses and income. The summaries appear on spreadsheets which mirror the party’s financial affidavit.

Florida’s evidence code allows the use of summaries to streamline the presentation of voluminous evidence. In high net worth cases, a certified public accountant (“CPA”) may also be employed to present a needs analysis and present an opinion to the judge.

The credibility of a party who has overstated expenses can be undermined in court, when through careful preparation, we are able to show the court through summaries or experts that an opposing party’s actual monthly expenses are significantly lower (sometimes by thousands of dollars) than stated in their financial affidavit. A thorough needs analysis is one way a prepared lawyer can enhance a client’s outcome.

Income and Alimony

After the analysis of expenses, the next step when analyzing need is to determine the income of the parties. Analysis of income can be complex if a party is underemployed or self-employed.

The most common underemployed party is a stay-at-home spouse. If that spouse is not disabled or caring for small children, it is often necessary to perform a vocational evaluation to determine the party’s earning potential. Florida law allows judges to impute (or attribute) income to an underemployed spouse. To effectively make an imputation of income case, the use of an expert is critical to provide the court with evidence to make findings about what level of income is appropriate to impute.

Self-employed individuals present significant challenges in an alimony case because they can often influence their level of income through the operation of the business. In a case with a self-employed party who may be under-reporting income, it is best use a CPA to analyze the cash flow of the business.

Alimony Factors

In addition to need and ability to pay, Florida Statute Section 61.08 law sets forth the following factors for courts to consider when crafting an award:

  • (a) The standard of living established during the marriage.
  • (b) The duration of the marriage.
  • (c) The age and the physical and emotional condition of each party.
  • (d) The financial resources of each party, including the nonmarital and the marital assets and liabilities distributed to each.
  • (e) The earning capacities, educational levels, vocational skills, and employability of the parties and, when applicable, the time necessary for either party to acquire sufficient education or training to enable such party to find appropriate employment.
  • (f) The contribution of each party to the marriage, including, but not limited to, services rendered in homemaking, child care, education, and career building of the other party.
  • (g) The responsibilities each party will have with regard to any minor children they have in common.
  • (h) The tax treatment and consequences to both parties of any alimony award, including the designation of all or a portion of the payment as a nontaxable, nondeductible payment.
  • (i) All sources of income available to either party, including income available to either party through investments of any asset held by that party.
  • (j) Any other factor necessary to do equity and justice between the parties.

An entire page could be written about each of the additional factors. If you have questions about how the factors above apply to your case, please use the consultation request button on this page to schedule a free consultation.

LENGTH OF MARRIAGE 

Florida classifies the length marriages in three different categories: short-term marriage, moderate-term marriage and long-term marriage.

A short-term is a marriage that is less than 10 years from the date of marriage until the date of filing of the divorce case. In short term marriages, an award of durational alimony may not exceed 50 percent of the length of the marriage.

A moderate-term is a marriage is between 10 to 20 years from the date of marriage until the date of filing of the divorce case. In moderate-term marriages, an award of durational alimony may not exceed 60 percent of the length of the marriage.

A long-term is a marriage is over 20 years from the date of marriage until the date of filing of the divorce case. In long-term marriages, an award of durational alimony may not exceed 75 percent of the length of the marriage.

Types of Alimony in Florida

Here are some of the most common forms of alimony:

1) Temporary Alimony

Temporary is designed to provide for the needs of a party while a dissolution of marriage is pending. Temporary alimony terminates upon the entry of the final judgment unless an appeal of the final judge is pending

2) Bridge-The-Gap Alimony

Bridge-the-gap alimony may be awarded to assist a spouse by providing support to facilitate the transition from being married to being single. Bridge-the-gap alimony is for short-term needs, and the length is not to exceed a period of two years. An award of bridge-the-gap alimony terminates upon the death of either party or upon the remarriage of the party receiving alimony. An award of bridge-the-gap alimony shall not be modifiable in amount or duration.

3) Rehabilitative Alimony

Rehabilitative alimony may be awarded to assist a spouse in establishing the capacity for self-support. Rehabilitative alimony must be accompanied by a specific plan. Rehabilitation may include:

  • a. The redevelopment of previous skills or credentials; or
  • b. The acquisition of education, training, or work experience necessary to develop appropriate employment skills or credentials.

Rehabilitative alimony may be terminated for non-compliance with a rehabilitation plan.

4) Durational Alimony

A court may award durational alimony to provide a spouse with economic assistance for a set period of time. Durational alimony may not be awarded following a marriage lasting less than 3 years.

Absent exceptional circumstances, an award of durational alimony may not exceed 50 percent of the length of a short-term marriage, 60 percent of the length of a moderate-term marriage, or 75 percent of the length of a long-term marriage.

The amount of a durational alimony payment may not to exceed 35 percent of the difference between the parties’ net incomes, whichever amount is less.

Questions?

If you have questions about alimony, please click the consultation button to schedule a free consultation. The Taylor Law Office has locations in Avondale and Northern St. Johns County to serve you.