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Do You Have to Pay More Alimony Pendente Lite If Your Ex-Spouse Appeals the Court’s Decision in Your Divorce?

Div22

According to Florida law, there are a whopping six different types of alimony, but the good news is that you probably will not have to pay any of them.  The court does not order divorced people to pay alimony to their former spouses unless the disadvantaged spouse has no other source of financial support; whenever possible, the court divides the marital property in such a way that neither spouse needs alimony.  The only kind of alimony that is almost always required is pendente lite alimony, which automatically ends when your divorce becomes final.  As with so many other legal matters, alimony pendente lite automatically ends when you finalize your divorce, except when it doesn’t.  If you and your ex are at odds over alimony pendente lite, contact a South Florida alimony lawyer.

How Is Alimony Pendente Lite Different from Other Types of Alimony?

Pendente lite is a Latin phrase meaning “while the legal case is going on.”  It is the financial support that the wealthier spouse makes to the less wealthy one while the divorce is in progress, and it automatically stops when the court issues a final order of dissolution of marriage.  The obligations of spouses to support each other lasts until the court officially dissolves the marriage at the end of the Sometimes the monthly amount of alimony pendente lite is enormous; its purpose is to enable the recipient spouse to maintain the same standard of living she had before the divorce began, because the parties are still legally married.  Unless the marriage lasted for decades, it is not your obligation to maintain your ex-spouse’s lifestyle indefinitely.

When the Divorce Lasts Longer Than the Marriage

David and Liudmyla, a Broward County couple, finalized their divorce in 2016; their acrimonious divorce case lasted almost as long as the time they had been married before filing for divorce.  By the time the court dissolved the marriage, the parties had racked up over $200,000 in attorneys’ fees.  The court did not award alimony to be paid after the dissolution of the marriage, but Liudmyla received more than $100,000 in equitable distribution.  Liudmyla appealed the divorce court’s decision and requested alimony pendente lite while the appeal was pending.  She argued that she had a genuine need for the money, and David had the ability to pay.  Meanwhile, David argued that Liudmyla was just dragging the appeal out for as long as she could with frivolous litigation, as she had done during the original divorce case, in an attempt to prolong the pendente lite alimony.  The court decided to continue the pendente lite but to credit it against the money David would have to pay in equitable distribution.

Contact Us Today for Help

The length of the marriage is not always an accurate predictor of the complexity of the divorce, but a Boca Raton divorce lawyer can help you no matter how long or how briefly you were married.  Contact Schwartz | White for help today.

Resource:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1216130313172852493&q=Liudmyla+Reidy&hl=en&as_sdt=6,47

https://www.schwartz-white.com/what-happens-if-you-file-for-divorce-then-reconcile-then-file-for-divorce-again/

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