Articles Posted in Divorce

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When a client meets with their Broward divorce lawyer, nine times out of ten they will ask if they will have to pay alimony or if they will receive alimony. Effective July 1, 2010, there will be significant revisions to Florida law governing alimony. The amendments apply to all initial awards and modifications of these awards entered prior to July 1, 2010. However, the statutory amendments will not serve as a basis to modify alimony awards or change the amount or length of alimony awards entered before July 1, 2010.

The Florida marital and family court will now consider three additional statutory factors when awarding alimony. First, the court will consider each party’s responsibilities for children of the marriage. Next, the court will consider the tax consequence of the alimony award and whether all or a portion of the award should be nontaxable and nondeductible. Finally, your Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyer will now have the ability of presenting evidence of all sources of income available to either party from investments and assets.

Another significant change to Florida’s alimony law are the statutory presumptions regarding length of marriages which will help the court determine which type of alimony is the most appropriate. A short term marriage is now considered a marriage that is less than 7 years. A moderate term marriage is a marriage greater than seven years but less than 17 years. Last but not least, a long term marriage is a marriage that is in excess of seven years.

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Many divorce lawyers in Fort Lauderdale often wonder why long term marriages with history and commitment, children and grandchildren often wind up in the marital and family law court. One half of all divorces take place during the first eight years of a marriage. When considering data compiled from the US Census Bureau from 1955 to 1994, 25% of parties have been married for at least 20 years and 4% of the divorced couples have been married at least 40 years.

Couples who enter into their 60’s no longer view themselves as old. They are often optimistic about their future and are willing to change a situation that makes them unhappy. Sometimes a long term marriage runs its course because there is not enough attention, time, empathy and play. Other times people look at each other and wonder who the other person is since they remained married until their children entered university. However, married couples in Broward who wait to hire a divorce attorney to file often find themselves in a highly contested divorce since they have had time to build up their assets.

Women in long term marriages tend to be the party that initiates a divorce. Men often hesitate because they are comfortable with their wife. In a long term marriage you must stay connected, keep things fresh and remain interested in your partner. However, this is sometimes easier said then done.

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In Purrinos v Purrinos, the wife appealed the decision of the Miami-Dade divorce court that failed to award her any type of alimony. The parties were married for 16 years. At the time of the dissolution of marriage action, the husband and wife has three young children. The only marital asset was the marital residence. While both parties were employed during the marriage, the husband earned more than the wife. At the trial, the husband testified that he was involuntarily and temporarily employed. However, he expected to find a new job in the future.

In reversing the decision of the divorce court, the Third District Court of Appeal held that the trial court abused its discretion in failing to award the Wife alimony. The court reasoned that while an alimony award was inappropriate at the time of trial because of the husband’s inability to pay at that time, he may possess the ability to pay alimony in the future. Accordingly, the case was remanded to the trial court with instructions to award the wife a nominal amount of permanent periodic alimony.

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Your Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyer should join you and your spouse’s corporation as a party to your dissolution of marriage case if you are requesting the transfer of any of the corporate assets as part of the equitable distribution. In the event that the corporation is not a party to your action, the marital and family law court does not have jurisdiction to order that corporate assets to be transferred to you as part of the equitable distribution. In addition, if your spouse is ordered to transfer a corporate asset to you, you may not be able to have the corporation do so and then you would be left with no recourse. Another reason that a corporation owned by you and your spouse should be joined as a party is when both parties have access to the corporate books, checkbooks, bills and personal expenses are paid by the corporation
Joining a corporation is not necessary when a party is not requesting a claim against the corporate entity or an unequal distribution in any of the corporation’s property. In the event that your divorce lawyer in Broward does not join you and your spouse’s corporation, the Florida marital and family law judge can still prevent the disposal of corporate assets or corporate stock to a third party.

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The purpose of civil contempt is to obtain compliance with a child support, alimony or general court order and can only be used when the contemnor has the ability to comply.

First, your divorce lawyer in Fort Lauderdale must have the court determine whether the defaulting party has willfully violated the court order. Next, the court must determine the appropriate remedial measure. If the Florida marital and family law judge orders that the contemnor is to be jailed, the court must make a specific finding that he or she has the present ability to pay the purge.

In Aburos v Aburos, the former husband appealed an order finding him in indirect civil contempt and requiring him to be incarcerated which was entered by Miami divorce court Judge Amy Steele Donner for failing to pay the former wife alimony and child support pursuant to the Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage. Specifically, the former wife asked the trial court to find the former husband in contempt of court for his failure to pay $1,700 per month for permanent periodic alimony and $1,693 per month in child support.

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Disagreements over finances are one of the leading causes for divorce filings in Fort Lauderdale. When money is tight or investments are performing poorly, even couples who are happily married may encounter disagreements. However, before you talk to a divorce lawyer about alimony, child custody matters and a parenting plan, perhaps you should make some adjustments to your finances by having a financial divorce from your spouse.

In the past, a majority of financial decisions were made by the husband. Today, women depend on men far less than they did years ago. Women are now employed and have their own investments. In light of the climbing divorce rate, women do not want to be in a position where they rely upon men for alimony, support and maintenance.

A large percentage of marital disagreements deal with how money is spent. In addition, some couples have different investment objectives, methods and risk tolerances. South Florida couples with strict budgets who struggle to make ends meet may also fight about which bills to pay first.

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In Greenwald v Greenwald, the husband and wife were married on May 18, 2004. Fourteen months later, the parties filed for divorce in Miami-Dade. In support of her claim for permanent alimony, the wife claimed that the husband induced her to quit her job were she earned $100,00 per year. At trial, e-mail evidence proved that this claim was false since the wife wanted to quit her job prior to the marriage.

While the wife’s request for permanent periodic alimony was denied, Judge Scott Bernstein awarded her $65,000 in attorney’s fees and costs to be paid by the husband. In reversing the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees and costs to the wife, the Third District Court of Appeal held that the Miami divorce court should have denied the wife’s request for attorney’s fees and costs. The court reasoned that the wife made a claim for permanent alimony in a short-term marriage which is rarely successful, the case went to trial on the permanent alimony issue, the basis of the claim was false and the wife turned down a favorable opportunity to settle the alimony matter before trial in a lump sum payment of $36,000.

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Many residents of Fort Lauderdale will file for divorce. In fact, when you hire a divorce attorney in Broward you will often try to mitigate the impact of child custody, time-sharing and shared parental responsibility litigation on your children. The following statistics should remind you why it is important to amicably resolve your divorce case.

1. While 1/2 of children experience their parents divorce, 1/2 of those children will also experience their parents second divorce.

2. 1 out of every 10 children who have seen their parents divorce will also experience 3 or more divorces.

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During the recession, filing for divorce is a difficult decision. With housing values depressed and jobs disappearing in South Florida, divorce has become a luxury for many residents. Nowadays, there is often not enough money to maintain separate households or to hire a divorce attorney in Fort Lauderdale to go to court and fight over alimony, child support and child custody matters.

Lately, many clients have been living together during and after their divorce. Some have filed for bankruptcy. Others have realized that they are upside down with the values of their homes. In many cases, marital and family law attorneys in Miami-Dade have dealt with clients who only require equitable distribution of debt during their divorce case.

During 2008, there were 838,000 divorces granted in 44 states, a slight decline from the previous year when 56,000 divorces were granted. These days working class couples are vulnerable to file for a divorce since they feel the impact of unemployment. However, the recession has created many unhappy couples who would like to file for divorce but will be required to wait until the economy rebounds.

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If you file for divorce in Broward, your attorney may suggest that you retain a forensic accountant to value the marital business. However, in these uncertain economic times the values of marital assets are volatile and may fluctuate after trial and before the marital and family court in Florida enters the final judgment of dissolution of marriage. In the case of Mistretta v. Mistretta, the Miami Herald is reporting that First District Court of Appeal ruled that the trial court erred in revisiting the equitable distribution due to the economic recession

In the final judgment of dissolution of marriage entered on August 25, 2008, the trial court distributed the marital business to the Husband, assigned a date of valuation of October 31, 2007 and ordered the Husband to make a one time cash equalization payment of $845,000 to the Wife. The Husband requested a new trial and valuation of the business relying upon the economic recession that began in December, 2007 as “newly discovered evidence.” The trial court granted the Husband’s motion.

Rehearing or a new trial based upon newly discovered evidence is permitted when it appears that the evidence will possibly change the result if a new trial is granted, the evidence has been discovered since trial, the evidence could not have been discovered before trial by the exercise of due diligence, the evidence is material to the issue and the evidence is not just cumulative or impeaching. The alleged “newly discovered evidence” cannot simply show some change in circumstance since the trial.

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