How does alimony get calculated?
Courts award alimony whenever one of the spouses needs assistance financially and the other individual has the ability to help the other spouse. Generally speaking, the longer the couple has been married, the bigger the difference is going to be in terms of earning capabilities, which means the greater chance there is for alimony award being granted. In longer marriages, courts might award alimony on a permanent basis. Make sure you consult with alimony attorneys in Ft. Walton or at any of our other locations to make sure you aren’t being taken advantage of in the divorce proceeding.
Kenny Leigh and Associates is a family law firm that represents men only with offices in Jacksonville, Fleming Island, Daytona, Gainesville, Fort Walton Beach, and Boca Raton, serving all of North and South Florida.
When do alimony payments end?
The length of time the alimony payments are going to last is largely dependent upon how long the two of you were married and what your incomes are. If one spouse has been primarily responsible for raising the children and homemaking, the court is likely going to provide that spouse with a longer time period of alimony payments to allow that spouse to retrain themselves and return to work.
The majority of the time, the divorce judgment is going to specify a set date for the alimony payments to end. If it doesn’t, the rule is that the alimony payments will end whenever the individual receiving the payments gets remarried or passes away. Speaking with alimony attorneys in Ft. Walton or at our other offices throughout North and South Florida will provide you with information about how the process works and how long you can expect to make payments to your ex.
What can you do when your spouse isn’t reporting her income correctly?
If you think that your spouse isn’t reporting all of the money that they have coming into the household and you want additional support based on what you believe the actual numbers are, you are going to have to prove it. You can testify regarding what your spouse has talked about in regards to income or have other individuals testify about the income your spouse is making.
Another means of proving income that isn’t being reported properly is to prove that your marital lifestyle needed a certain amount of money to make it happen and let them know that your spouse made enough money to be able to pay for it during the marriage. This leads to the conclusion that the other party is making more than enough to support a certain lifestyle, and you deserve more money than what you are currently receiving. Talking with alimony attorneys in Ft. Walton or at one of our other offices can help provide you with information about how you can proceed with your claim and get everything you deserve.
What can you do if your spouse isn’t earning what she should be?
If your spouse is able to earn more money than she is currently earning, the court deciding on alimony can impute income to the spouse. An example of this would be an individual who is trained to work as a doctor has taken a job working in the gym as a personal trainer. If you aren’t sure what this could mean to you, it means that the judge will calculate alimony based on if the spouse were actually making the wages of the job they should be working at. Thanks to the help of alimony attorneys in Ft. Walton or our other offices, you can rest assured that you are going to receive the money to which you are entitled.
How is fault determined in an alimony case?
In certain states, you can easily argue that fault should be determined in cases of spousal support. You have the right to make this argument whether you were the one who filed or not. If the high-earning individual committed adultery, was abusive, or otherwise responsible for the divorce, you might be able to have the alimony payments increased.
Keep in mind, though, that if there is only a certain amount of money that your spouse is going to be able to afford, the court isn’t going to order a higher payment that she can’t realistically pay. Also, in some cases, the spouse who is receiving the payments has their amount reduced because it was proven to be their fault that the divorce happened.
Regardless of what the situation might be, you need to speak with alimony attorneys in Ft. Walton or at one of our other locations today to determine what rights you have in your particular situation. They can guide you through the process and make sure you are protected every step of the way, as well as make sure you know everything that is going on with your case. Kenny Leigh and Associates is a family law firm that represents men only with offices in Jacksonville, Fleming Island, Daytona, Gainesville, Fort Walton Beach, and Boca Raton, serving all of North and South Florida.