You Don’t Have to Pay Alimony to Support Your Former In-Laws

The courts only award alimony when one spouse will still require financial support from the other to maintain a standard of living comparable to the couple’s financial situation during the marriage, even when the court has used all other possible solutions. For example, the court divides marital assets in ways that will give the lower income spouse a source of financial stability and reduce his or her need for alimony from the other spouse when possible. Likewise, if the lower income spouse is young enough and healthy enough to work, then the court will calculate the alimony amount as how much the recipient spouse will still need even while working full time or as close to full time as he or she is able. Despite this, your ex-spouse is not required to subsidize your discretionary expenses. When asking the court to calculate an alimony award, both spouses must submit financial disclosures including their income and necessary expenses. Case law has consistently determined that financial support of anyone except one’s own minor children is a discretionary expense, even though, in practice, familial networks of financial support are often more complex than that. If your financial support of other adult family members is complicating the financial issues in your divorce, contact a Boca Raton divorce lawyer.

Court Determines That Ex-Wife Should Rent Out Condo Instead of Letting Her Mother Live There Rent Free

Timothy and Jacqueline divorced after 20 years of marriage. Jacqueline was out of the workforce for many years while the couple’s children were young, and she had returned to working part-time by the time the parties divorced. To compensate for Jacqueline’s low earning potential, the parties agreed that she would keep the marital home and a condominium unit that the parties owned; they also agreed that Timothy would pay alimony.

The parties disagreed about the amount of alimony. Jacqueline’s mother lived in the condo, as she had done before Jacqueline and Timothy divorced, and Jacqueline paid all her expenses that Social Security did not cover. Timothy argued that Jacqueline could make her alimony check go farther if her mother moved into the house with her and she rented out the condo. In other words, the condo was a potentially income-generating asset, whether she rented it out or sold it and invested the proceeds. Jacqueline’s financial support of her mother was a discretionary expense. Even if her mother had no other means of financial support, it was not Timothy’s responsibility to support her. This is the same argument that the courts make when an alimony-receiving spouse wants more alimony, in order to contribute to the support of the couple’s adult children or the couple’s grandchildren.

Contact Schwartz | White About Family Support After Divorce

A South Florida family law attorney can help you if, before you and your spouse, you were the financial anchor of a large family network.  Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7887909866059224006&q=divorce+kitchen&hl=en&as_sdt=4,10&as_ylo=2015&as_yhi=2025