Imputation of income is an important legal concept for anyone who pays alimony to understand. If a former spouse who pays alimony (“payor spouse”) becomes unemployed, that payor spouse’s request to terminate, suspend, or reduce his or her alimony payments could be denied by the Court if the Court imputes income to that payor spouse. […]
How Does The Florida Court Fashion A Time-Sharing Plan
How does the Florida Court fashion a time-sharing plan? If parents are unable or unwilling to agree to time-sharing plan in mediation, the Court will dictate how much time each parent spends with the children. The Court must consider the best interests of the child(ren) when determining the time-sharing schedule. The factors considered by the […]
The IRS Alimony Recapture Rule
Ordinarily alimony is deductible from the payor’s gross income, and includable in the recipient’s gross income, for income tax purposes. Thus there is some tax advantage to paying alimony. But, that advantage can be eliminated if you don’t pay heed to the IRS’ Alimony Recapture Rule (I.R.C. § 71(f)). If you are caught in the […]
Attorney’s Fees In Representation Agreements
When entering into a representation agreement with your attorney in a dissolution of marriage case, you will find that generally, attorneys charge for their services based upon an hourly rate and require a retainer to cover a certain number of hours of work on your case. Generally, the attorney will also require payment of additional […]
Importance of Timesharing
Parents who have a limited amount of timesharing with their children (for example every other weekend), often feel that they are required to do something “extra special” each time they are together with their children. This can result in unrealistic expectations on the part of the children and a tremendous strain on the parent’s budget. […]
How Is The Marital Estate Determined?
Everything that a spouse acquires from the day that the marriage occurred to the day that a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is filed is marital by default. That includes assets and liabilities, however they are titled. We start with the assumption that all of those things are marital and thus part of the marital […]
Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) and It’s Impact On Child Support
Florida Statute 61.30(1) creates the presumptive amount of child support that an obligor should pay, dependent on the timesharing schedule, incomes of the parties, health insurance expenses, and other factors. In the event a parent is disabled and receives SSDI payments from the government, that income is specifically includable in their gross monthly income pursuant […]
Attorney’s Fees Related To Unnecessary or Bad Faith Litigation
Generally, the purpose of an attorney’s fee award in dissolution of marriage cases is to ensure that both parties have similar access to counsel and can thus fight the action on nearly equal footing. Thus, in a case where one party is in a far superior financial position, that party may be ordered to pay […]
Family Businesses In The Divorce
Many families derive all or a portion of their income from businesses that one or both spouses own, so often the business becomes an integral part of a divorce. The first question that must be tackled is whether or not to include the business as a party to the divorce. Sole proprietorships (unincorporated businesses) do […]
Can I Discharge In Bankruptcy Debts To My Former Spouse?
The answer depends upon the nature of the debt. Certainly, alimony cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, nor can child support. But when a payment to a spouse is not termed alimony or child support, the question of dischargeability is muddied. Ordinary debts to a spouse are usually dischargeable, so if, for example you have agreed […]