Does an Alimony Award Have to Put You on Equal Footing With Your Ex-Spouse to Be Fair?

Equitable distribution, where the goal is to distribute the couple’s marital property and debts fairly, but not necessarily equally, varies depending on the length of the marriage. If the marriage was brief, the goal is to disentangle the parties’ finances as if they had never been married. If they were married for 17 years or more and are of retirement age, the goal is to divide their property so that they benefit equally from the wealth they built during their long-term marriage, even if one spouse earned more through employment than the other. There is more of a gray area in a medium-term marriage, defined as a marriage that lasted between five and 17 years. In marriages of this duration, equitable distribution means ensuring that neither spouse is destitute, but the higher income spouse’s responsibility to support or subsidize the lower-income spouse cannot exceed the length of the marriage. For example, if you were married to your spouse for 12 years, the duration of the alimony award cannot exceed 12 years. If you have stayed afloat through steady employment during your divorce proceedings, but your spouse’s finances have tanked, contact a Boca Raton alimony lawyer.

Everything Fell Apart After Domestic Violence Incident

A Palm Beach County couple got divorced after 12 years of marriage, while their two children were minors. The precipitating event was a domestic violence incident that resulted in the husband getting convicted of domestic battery, a first-degree misdemeanor, and spending seven months in jail. He returned to work after his release and applied for an even better job, but rescinded the offer after a background check turned up the domestic violence conviction. By this time, he had already resigned from both his old jobs, and they would not take him back. By the time the divorce became final, the husband was still unemployed.

The court ordered the wife to pay the husband $50,000 in alimony per year; it based this on the amount it would take for the husband to rent a house big enough for him and the two children. It also adopted the husband’s proposed parenting plan without amendment; it gave the parties equal parenting time and equal decision-making responsibility. The wife appealed the judgment on several grounds. First, she argued that the court did not consider the precedent where Florida courts consider it in the best interests of the children to spend more time with the parent who was the target of domestic violence than with the one who perpetrated it. Second, it failed to make findings about the husband’s earning potential and thereby to calculate the alimony award accurately.

Contact Schwartz | White About Alimony Awards After the Parties’ Financial Paths Diverged

A South Florida family law attorney can help you get a fair alimony award if your ex got through the divorce unscathed financially, but you did not.  Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=4704185595365443131&q=divorce+hurricane&hl=en&as_sdt=4,10&as_ylo=2015&as_yhi=2025