Category Archives: Alimony
Can You Reduce Your Alimony Obligations When Your Ex-Spouse Starts Getting Retirement Income?
Courts do not order divorced people to pay permanent alimony in very many cases, but when they do, it is meant to be permanent, terminating only when one of the ex-spouses dies for when the recipient ex-spouse remarries or enters a financially supportive romantic relationship. While the obligation to pay alimony is permanent, the… Read More »
Permanent Alimony Is Not A Wealth-Building Strategy
When the courts award permanent alimony, they do not do it as a punishment to the wealthier spouse. They do it because the financially disadvantaged spouse has little or no opportunity to earn income and does not have enough non-marital assets to support themselves; without alimony, the financially disadvantaged spouse would have to rely… Read More »
Ex-Wife Asks Court To Garnish Ex-Husband’s Discretionary Trust To Pay Her Alimony
If there is ever a time to be thankful for the fact that you have never owned any property to speak of, it is when you get divorced. No matter your tax bracket, if the court orders your ex-spouse to pay alimony, there is a good chance that your ex put up a fight. … Read More »
Will The Court Reduce Your Alimony Obligations If Your Ex-Spouse Gets A Full-Time Job?
When the court orders you to pay alimony to your ex-spouse, it can feel like an albatross around your neck, an obstacle to any kind of financial stability. Getting the family court to modify your alimony order is possible if you can demonstrate that there has been a substantial change in circumstances for you… Read More »
Is A Disabled Spouse With Non-Employment Income Streams Entitled To Permanent Alimony?
The court has the option to award permanent alimony to a spouse who cannot return to the workforce after the divorce, because of the financially disadvantaged spouse’s age or disability. To persuade the court that you are entitled to alimony, you must present evidence that you cannot cover your expenses without financial support from… Read More »
Can Your Disabled Ex-Spouse Get Permanent Alimony After A Short-Term Marriage?
Florida family law courts award permanent alimony only as a last resort, when a financially disadvantaged spouse, due to age or disability, has no other source of financial support. Most of the time, the court will only consider a request for permanent alimony if the parties were married 17 years or more. There are… Read More »
Retirement And Modification Of Alimony Obligations
The older you get, the more you realize that “retirement age” is not a specific number. The professions that require you to stop working once you reach a certain age are the exception rather than the rule. You may have met people who love their jobs so much that, even though they are in… Read More »
Does Lump Sum Alimony Count As Alimony Or As Equitable Distribution?
Given that Florida recognizes six different types of alimony, there is bound to be some confusion about which kind the court has awarded in your case. Besides this, Florida is an equitable distribution state, and equitable, which means fair, is a subjective term, so there is plenty of room for disagreement. Lump sum alimony… Read More »
A Draconian Response To A Former Spouse’s Inability To Keep Up With Alimony Payments
The law severely restricts the times when the court can treat you like a criminal when you have not been convicted of a crime. In some criminal cases, the judge will refuse to allow the defendant to post bail if there is a substantial risk that, before the trial, the defendant will flee, tamper… Read More »
What Good Is Permanent Alimony When It Is Only One Dollar Per Year?
You have probably heard about executives at billion-dollar companies getting a salary of one dollar per year. The fact that they are intentionally choosing a low salary is obvious, but why one dollar? Why not zero? The reason is that the IRS sees a major difference between one and zero, but not between one… Read More »
