Divorce and the One-Client Business
Children who grew up in the 1980s will remember the books of Richard Scarry, where two-page spreads depicted, in Where’s Waldo levels of detail, a town where everyone is doing something. The point, which children received enthusiastically, is that every occupation contributes to society. When one person bakes bread, one plants cucumbers, one sews leather shoes for anthropomorphic creatures, one shoes horses, and one chops firewood, among many other tasks, eventually all the work gets done. When you get married, it is exhilarating to think about how you and your spouse fit into the economic ecosystem. You think, “I am an accountant, the spouse of a teacher,” or whatever occupations you and your spouse hold. Your occupation can be an important factor in your divorce case, too. When determining equitable distribution of marital assets and, if applicable, alimony awards, the court looks at how much each spouse can reasonably expect to earn in his or her line of work, given current and projected labor market conditions. Sometimes there is room for disagreement about these matters, and the parties summon vocational experts to persuade the court to modify its expectations about how much the spouses will likely earn in the coming years. If you need to modify your alimony order because of a change in labor conditions, contact a Boca Raton alimony lawyer.
Family Court Says “I Told You So” When Ex-Husband’s Dental Chair Upholstery Business Tanks
When a Pasco County couple divorced in 2016 after a long marriage, the husband’s source of income was an upholstery business he owned, and the court ordered him to pay alimony to his ex-wife for many years to come. The upholstery business only had one client, a manufacturer of dentists’ office chairs. Many businesses suffered setbacks in the spring of 2020 because of the restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, including the dental chair upholstery business. The husband’s business lost its only client and was forced to close. To add insult to injury, the former client pressured the husband to sign a non-compete agreement that prevented him from upholstering dental chairs for other companies in Central Florida for two years.
The husband petitioned the court to reduce the amount of his alimony obligations because of this unanticipated financial setback. He claimed that, at age 60, he was too old to reinvent himself professionally and needed to retire. The court was less than sympathetic to his plight. Former spouses have the right to reduce their alimony obligations if they suffer a reduction in income due to unforeseeable circumstances, but there is room for debate about whether the loss of one’s only client is unforeseeable, even if one makes a wider range of products than just dental chairs. The wife accused the husband of putting all his eggs in one basket by sticking to such a narrow professional focus.
Contact Schwartz | White About Alimony Obligations for the Self-Employed
A South Florida family law attorney can help you if your ex-spouse’s lack of understanding about your entrepreneurship continued after your divorce. Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.
Source:
scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5749887033492374036&q=divorce+equipment&hl=en&as_sdt=4,10&as_ylo=2015&as_yhi=2025
