As a Jacksonville Divorce Attorney I am all to familiar with the topics discussed in Georgialee Lang’s article, 5 Support Arguments That Don’t Matter in Divorce Court. In the article, Ms. Lang lists and describes what she deems to be the five most common complaints in divorce cases. Ms. Lang lists the complaints as follows:
(1) My wife left me to move in with her boyfriend, why do I have to pay her spousal support?
(2) My ex spouse has remarried, why do I still have to pay spousal support?
When a family is going through a divorce it can be one of the toughest times in a person’s life. Concerns range from child support, alimony, and distribution of assets and liabilities. Many people find themselves so caught up in the emotion of their case that they can overlook very important considerations. That being said, let’s look at a specific example of oversight that could potentially cost a person thousands of dollars.
Say husband and wife are getting a divorce, and at issue is the support due wife after the dissolution. Wife, in her settlement agreement, gets husband to agree to give her a portion of his 401(k), let’s say $50,000, and in turn waives her right to any alimony that she could potentially qualify for. Unfortunately, wife’s attorney forgets to account for taxes inherent in 401(k)’s, and instead of negotiating the taxes into the agreement, the wife ends up paying nearly 30% in tax on the settlement, $15,000. With careful negotiation the husband might have agreed to account for those taxes, thus giving the wife the full value of her settlement.
Issues like the one seen above can be avoided by carefully choosing a Florida Divorce Lawyer who will represent you. An experienced Florida Divorce Lawyer is sure to take the important tax implications into consideration before presenting a proposed final agreement. Contact a Jacksonville Divorce Lawyer to discuss the facts surrounding your case today.
Florida recognizes Five types of Alimony, which include:
Permanent Alimony provides for ongoing monthly payments until the death or remarriage of the recipient. Recent changes in the law allow modifications in cases of “cohabitation in a financially supportive relationship,” even without remarriage.
Durational Alimony is awarded to provide the receiving party with financial assistance during a period of time following the marriage, and may be modified or terminated. Durational alimony may not be awarded for a period of time exceeding the length of the marriage.
Florida is a “no fault” divorce state, meaning that either spouse may seek a divorce without showing cause for the desired separation. The spouse seeking a divorce has the option to simply claim the marriage is “irretrievably broken.” Generally, Florida courts are not concerned with which party played the greater role in causing the divorce.
As a Jacksonville Divorce Attorney, I am often asked how a cheating spouse factors into a divorce in Florida. While adulterous conduct does not factor into the court’s decision to grant a divorce, it can impact other important issues raised in a divorce.
In child custody battles, a court considers the “moral fitness” of a parent seeking custody. Evidence of adulterous conduct can lower a party’s level of “moral fitness,” and decrease his or her chances of receiving custody. However, it is not an absolute bar to child custody. Often times, a larger impact will be whether the adultery had an adverse impact on the child.
As a Jacksonville, Florida spousal support attorney, many of my cases involve paying spousal support also known as alimony or receiving alimony in Florida. There are several factors that the courts in Florida use to determine whether an award of alimony in Jacksonville, Florida can be granted. Alimony in Florida is primarily based on need AND ability to pay. If this first prong can be established then the courts move on to the other factors involved in making a determination of whether to make the award or not. If you are facing having to pay alimony or if you are concerned that you need alimony, then you must contact a Jacksonville, Florida alimony lawyer to help assure that you are protected.
Tax day is right around the corner and as an Orange Park Family Law Attorney I tell my divorced clients that its important to be aware of the following things:
• Child support is not deductable.
• Child support is not income.
An article titled, “Breaking up is hard to do because of the economy,” describes how many couples although wanting to file for divorce are stuck in their marriages because of financial woe’s. The article describes a couple who made the decision to end their marriage in the fall of 2008, but are still married and living under the same roof due to a combination of employment difficulties and the depressed housing market.
However, Linda Lea Viken, a family law lawyer in South Dakota and president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers stated, “the backlog is starting to break free.” As a Florida Family Law Lawyer, I have seen the amount of divorces begin to rise again as the economy is slowly getting better. If you have held of filing for divorce because of the economy, but now find yourself in a better position to file, contact a Florida Family Law Lawyer today.
A new North Dakota bill is getting a lot of attention in the North Dakota legislature, as it is proposing mandatory marriage counseling in all divorce cases. The drafters of the bill want all married couples, with the exemption of cases with substantiated allegations of domestic abuse, to wait one year to get a divorce while they attend mandatory marriage counseling.
Florida does not require mandatory marriage counseling when a married couple is seeking to obtain a divorce. Instead, in Florida the Court may refer parties to mediation in cases where parental responsibility, primary residence, timesharing, or child support are contested.
To find out more about what Florida courts require in regards to divorce proceedings contact a Neptune Beach Divorce Attorney.
Alimony is a term referring to the payment of certain monies as a form of financial support. It is based on the common law right of a wife to be supported by her husband. However, in 1979 the U.S. Supreme Court removed alimony’s limitation to husbands, to account for cases in which the wife is wealthier.
Traditionally speaking ex-husbands are probably thought of as being the ones ordered to make alimony payments. However, since the 1979 Supreme Court ruling referenced above, that is no longer the case. For example, U.S. soccer star, Landon Donovan, has filed for divorce from his actress wife Bianca Kajlich, and in his divorce pleadings he is requesting alimony from Bianca.
Therefore, it is important to know, if you make good money at your job, be prepared to pay alimony, regardless of whether you’re the guy or the gal.
As of July 1, 2010 the State of Florida made significant changes to its alimony laws. These changes will affect all divorce proceedings initiated after July 1 as well as those that were initiated prior to July 1 and are still unresolved.
Durational alimony’s predecessor, permanent alimony, gave the Judge the ability to award alimony to the spouse in need on a permanent basis. However, Durational alimony no longer allows the Judge to award alimony permanently. Instead, the Judge can award durational alimony for a length of time not to exceed the length of the marriage.
This is just a small glance at what changes have been made. Look for future posts on other issues pertaining to the new alimony laws. If this change in law has a direct effect on you or someone you know contact a Jacksonville Alimony Law Attorney today.
Jacksonville Divorce Attorney Blog