By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Sunday, January 10, 2016.
Divorce is not always bad. A woman divorced her husband after he raped her. But she works and he’s unemployed. Should she pay him alimony? A New York court just decided that case.
A Brooklyn man, who’s serving a 40-year prison sentence for raping his abused wife, just lost his request to get alimony payments from her.
The Ex-Husband, claimed he supported his wife throughout the marriage, when she went to school, and paid for the tuition with “hustled cigarettes” and by collecting public assistance.
A Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice found the Husband hadn’t even done that much. Worse, the judge found that the Husband had beat up his wife so many times during their marriage, that she wound up losing her job because of her excessive absences:
He “engaged in extreme acts of physical and sexual violence” against his wife throughout the marriage, and was arrested twice for attacking her.
The judge held:
“To award any portion of plaintiff’s retirement account to defendant, under the facts and circumstances here, would be contrary to the interest of justice.”
I’ve written about alimony a few times, especially now that a bill to amend our alimony laws is at issue. Our statutes currently provide for alimony to be paid under certain circumstances.
In Florida, the court may grant alimony to either party. There are several types of alimony: bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, durational, or permanent, and any combination of these forms of alimony can be awarded.
Florida courts may even consider the adultery of either spouse and the circumstances in determining the amount of alimony, if any, to be awarded.
Before determining whether to award alimony, Florida courts first make a specific factual determination as to whether a spouse has an actual need for alimony, and whether the other spouse has the ability to pay alimony.
If so, the court has to consider a variety of factors to determine an alimony award. This can include any factor necessary to do equity and justice between the parties.
That appears to be what the New York judge considered when denying alimony to the rapist husband.
The article can be found here.