Alimony

Alimony and Spousal Support.

Alimony or Spousal Support just as child support is used to require parents to monetarily support their children, alimony is a device in which one spouse is required to help in the support of the other spouse. Currently there are no alimony guidelines in the Florida Statutes and it is therefore much less predictable to determine the amount or length of alimony that one spouse will be required to pay to the other. The main criteria in determining alimony is the need of one spouse to receive alimony and the ability of the other spouse to pay.

Currently there are different types of alimony that can be considered under Florida Law (all of which need to be considered within the context of the ability of one spouse to pay and the other’s need for alimony):

Types of Alimony

Permanent
Permanent alimony is typically reserved in long term marriages (those exceeding 17 years in most instances). Permanent alimony is paid until the sooner of the death of either party or remarriage of the receiving spouse. In the vast majority of cases permanent alimony is subject to modification requiring that there be a substantial unanticipated change in circumstances warranting a modification of the permanent alimony obligation.

Durational
Durational alimony is paid for a period of time specifically agreed to by the parties or awarded by the Court.

Rehabilitative
This type of alimony is awarded in the context of a rehabilitative alimony plan for a period of time necessary for the receiving spouse to obtain the training and ability to support him or herself without the help of the other party.

Bridge the Gap
This type of alimony is designed to help the receiving spouse to “bridge the gap” between being married and being single. The period of time in which bridge the gap alimony is awarded is almost always for a short period of time.

Lump Sum
Lump sum alimony is a type of alimony that may be awarded as a set sum that is paid to the receiving spouse to reduce or eliminate other types of alimony.

Temporary
Temporary alimony is a type of alimony paid to the receiving spouse during the pendency of the divorce proceedings but always ends on the parties divorce.

The different types of alimony require an analysis of factors specific to each marriage. As previously stated, they all encompass an analysis of the need of the receiving spouse and the ability to pay of the paying spouse. Other factors include the length of the marriage, assets of the parties (both marital and non-marital) income derived from each parties’ assets, the health of the parties, the age of the parties, contributions that each party made to the intact marriage. It is not uncommon for there to be more than one type of alimony awarded in any given case as the various types of alimony are not mutually exclusive.

The Law office of Robert D. Burgs has an abundance of experience dealing with alimony issues from the perspective of a paying spouse or the potentially paying spouse and from that of a potentially receiving spouse.

Modification:
After a couple has been divorced and all of the issues have been resolved with regard to child support, alimony and time sharing, circumstances may occur that may warrant a modification of either the support obligation (alimony and/or child support ) or the time sharing arrangement of the parties’ children. This requires an analysis of the reasons for the changes and potential for success in analyzing potential modification of the parties’ divorce.

The office of Robert D. Burgs has dealt with hundreds of cases worth of years of modification matters.

Relocation:
There are occasions after the divorce when one parent finds it necessary to relocate his /her residence from the area of which the parties resided at the time of the divorce. Florida Law requires that a parent who wants to relocate a child’s residence for more than 50 miles from the location that the child resided at the time of the divorce obtain either written permission of the parent or court order to permit the relocation. All of the factors set forth in the Florida Statutes have to be identified and evaluated in determining that the relocation will be permitted by the Court. The Law Firm of Robert D. Burgs has the experience and know how to evaluate and present to the Court the factors necessary to assess these situations.

Settlement Agreements:
The vast majority of divorce cases resolve without court intervention. In those cases the parties are able to come to an Agreement resolving all of the issues concerning their children, their property and support without a family court Judge making those decisions for them. This almost always entails a tremendous amount of hard work in the part of divorcing spouses to analyze their situation and to come up with an Agreement to save the Husband and the Wife an exorbitant amount of emotional stress and money to be able to move forward.

Robert D. Burgs has been a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator since 1998 and has mediated numerous cases. His drive encourages our client’s to make every attempt to draft a legal document that encompasses the parties understanding.

You don’t have to go it alone. Contact the Law Offices of Robert D. Burgs today at (954) 472-0877, or Schedule An In-Depth Consultation Now to discuss your legal options