Category: Alimony

Alimony and the Stay-at-home Parent

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Thursday, September 3, 2015.

Always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom or dad? Your personal finances play a big part in that decision. This is especially true if you are separated or divorced from the other parent.

Forbes magazine recently published some Pew Research Center findings about parents who stay at home:

In 2012, 29% of mothers stayed at home with their children, up from 23% in 1999.

In 2012, 16% of all stay-at-home parents were fathers. That’s up from 10% in 1989.

With more parents choosing to stay at home with their children, what are some of the costs?

Cost of baby: According to the Dept. of Agriculture, the cost of raising a child born to a middle-income family will be $245,340 for food, housing, child care, education and other expenses, up to age 18. That doesn’t even include college!

Cost of working: Working also costs. Childcare cost is the biggest expense, with the average yearly cost for full-time care for an infant ranging from $4,863 to $16,430. Add to that bill: work outfits, dry cleaning, restaurant lunches, Frappuccinos, and your daily commute.

Wages: In addition to out-of-pocket costs, a child costs an average of $49,000 in lost lifetime wages for women due to taking time off to raise children, or choosing less demanding, lower-paying work to accommodate children.

Divorce: Researchers have found that women’s income drops by an average of 40% – and men’s by 25% – after a divorce. This makes it harder for parents to be the stay-at-home parent they dream of.

Alimony: Divorce is bad, but it gets even worse. I’ve written before about several bills in Florida to reform alimony. Over the past years, there has been a steady effort to reduce both the length of the term of alimony, in addition to lowering the amount of alimony a court can award in a divorce.

The financial impact of taking time off from work to raise your children can be very sobering. If you are contemplating that decision, information can help you make that decision.

The Forbes article can be found here.

Losing Your Alimony by Cohabitation

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Friday, July 31, 2015.

After a divorce, alimony may be awarded. The amount of alimony is based on a variety of factors. But when an alimony recipient cohabitates with someone special, alimony can be modified. Here’s how.

Cohabitation is very frustrating to the person who pays alimony – and these days it can be women paying alimony too – because the alimony recipient may be either:

(1) using the money to support their girlfriend or boyfriend, or

(2) they may be receiving money from their new partner.

I’ve written about alimony, and especially the annual attempt to change Florida’s alimony laws before. In Florida, cohabitation is referred to as a “supportive relationship.”

In Florida, our statute allows a court to reduce or terminate an award of alimony if a supportive relationship exists between the recipient of alimony and the person the alimony recipient resides with.

In determining whether a supportive relationship exists, the court considers the following:

a. The extent to which the obligee and the other person have held themselves out as a married couple.

b. The period of time that the obligee has resided with the other person in a permanent place of abode.

c. The extent to which the obligee and the other person have pooled their assets or income or otherwise exhibited financial interdependence.

d. The extent to which the obligee or the other person has supported the other, in whole or in part.

e. The extent to which the obligee or the other person has performed valuable services for the other.

f. The extent to which the obligee or the other person has performed valuable services for the other’s company or employer.

g. Whether the obligee and the other person have worked together to create or enhance anything of value.

h. Whether the obligee and the other person have jointly contributed to the purchase of any real or personal property.

i. Evidence in support of a claim that the obligee and the other person have an express agreement regarding property sharing or support.

j. Evidence in support of a claim that the obligee and the other person have an implied agreement regarding property sharing or support.

k. Whether the obligee and the other person have provided support to the children of one another, regardless of any legal duty to do so.

But simply proving a supportive relationship is not enough. People can waive their right to seek modification of alimony in a settlement agreement.

Cohabitation is not as easy to prove as you might think. Even if you can prove a supportive relationship, you must check your agreement to see if you can even modify alimony.

Alimony Reform . . . In the Big Apple

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Monday, July 6, 2015.

Alimony reform is not just a Florida issue, it’s nation-wide. Recently, New York passed sweeping revisions to its alimony laws. Florida’s dueling alimony reform bills died this year. Is New York a sign of what’s to come?

As the Wall Street Journal reports, the New York Senate’s action came five years after the state adopted legislation on alimony that eventually drew criticism from a wide range of bar associations and matrimonial lawyers.

The law introduces a formula to determine temporary alimony that is paid out between the filing of a divorce and its completion. It was intended to protect low-income New Yorkers by providing predictability and consistency in awards.

It worked well for that group, but drew increasing opposition because it applied to people making more than $500,000 a year. Critics said it failed to account for complicated financial situations, and there were extreme cases of spouses being asked to pay more in child support, alimony and other expenses than their monthly incomes.

The new bill preserves the temporary maintenance guidelines and extends them to post-divorce alimony, but now the formula will apply to income up to $175,000, down from $543,000.

It also provides judges with suggested ranges for the length of alimony awards, including proposing 7 to 10 years for marriages lasting 20 years, and changes the formula if child support is involved.

Formerly, money was awarded for a percentage of the lifetime value of a license or professional degree earned during the marriage. The money was awarded regardless of whether the person ended up switching careers or suffered an injury that prevented him or her from working.

I’ve written extensively on Florida’s efforts to adopt new alimony laws. The most recent effort, after a year of wheeling-and-dealing by lawyers, lawmakers and others, died when the Senate refused to take up the House’s version of the bill.

The Wall Street Journal article is here.

Job Lock: Modifying Alimony to Pursue a New Job

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Tuesday, May 12, 2015.

People who pay alimony can be prevented from changing jobs if the change means a lower salary. The court won’t stop you from changing jobs, but it won’t modify your alimony obligation downward. This means you could be locked into your job.

Prof. Margaret Ryznar, from the University of Indiana, published a research paper on the “job lock” effect of alimony. Professor Ryznar’s paper comes at a good time, as I’ve been writing about alimony a lot while Florida debates alimony reform.

Although Florida alimony reform failed again in 2015, alimony laws have been under attack in Florida for years. Alimony laws used to be generous, including permanent support. These days, only Florida and a few states continue to allow lifelong, permanent alimony.

Maybe one reason for the rise of alimony reform is the increasingly negative view people have of alimony. Clients view alimony as an inflexible and ironclad financial obligation, one that does not allow for nuance in individual cases.

Florida allows any party to modify alimony, whether alimony was agreed to in a marital settlement agreement, or ordered by the court, if the circumstances or the financial ability of either party changes.

However, the change in circumstances must have occurred after the order awarding alimony. Additionally, a modification of alimony requires proving a change in circumstances. If so, a modification in Florida depends on the type and the purpose of the alimony award.

Where a substantial change in circumstances is your reason for modifying alimony, you must show the substantial change in circumstances was not contemplated at the time of the order, and that the change is sufficient, material, involuntary and permanent in nature.

There are many reasons for alimony modification. A court may reduce or terminate alimony if a spouse has entered into a supportive relationship with a person with whom he or she resides. Also, the unemployment and retirement of the paying spouse are valid reasons.

Because courts are likely to be unwilling to modify alimony based on a change of job to a lower salary, the professor’s new research paper proposes a new test that balances the interests of the alimony recipient with those of the payor.

For example, is the change in job designed to avoid paying alimony, or an investment in the future, or is it due to a change in circumstances? If someone takes a pay cut to become mayor or a judge, should their dream job be prevented due to an alimony obligation?

A balancing test made for each case may be what is needed to protect families who rely on support, and release a possible job lock effect of an alimony award. The research paper is available here.

Florida Alimony Reform 2015: R.I.P.

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Friday, May 1, 2015.

As I boldly predicted in March, the Florida House would end session early, leave while the Senate was in session, and kill the alimony reform bill. OK, I didn’t predict this at all, but what does this mean for alimony reform?

As the Palm Beach Post reports in an excellent article which I quote lengthy from:

after a year of wheeling-and-dealing by lawyers, lawmakers and others, the alimony proposal died when the Senate refused to take up the House’s version of the bill.

I’ve written about the differences between the bills before. The House proposal didn’t go as far as Senator Lee wanted. Lee said language about child sharing in the House bill was “poorly drafted” and “designed to create confusion in the courts.”

House Rules Chairman Ritch Workman accused Lee of being a “bully” and “hijacking” the bill for his own reasons.

The Family Law Section of The Florida Bar supported the alimony overhaul but strongly opposed the Senate’s 50-50 timesharing provisions, one of the reasons Scott gave for his veto of the 2013 version.

“Workman accused Lee of having a personal grudge about the issue because of Lee’s own child custody dispute.

“What he cares about is getting back at the judge that didn’t give him 50-50 time share 15 years ago or whenever he got divorced,” he said.

Lee said his views had nothing to do with his own situation.

“I actually have 50-50 custody of my children. So, nice try.”

Lee said the bill was doomed because the House left before he could work out his objections to the time-sharing guidelines.

The truth is he He killed his own bill because he made commitments to an organization [the Florida Bar Family Law Section ed.] that didn’t need a bill.”

Workman accused the Lee of “extortion”. “Don’t come back now and cry me a river over a problem that he created for himself early on in the process. Hopefully there’s a lot of learning that comes out of this,” he said.

Lee said he intends to file the bill again next year if Stargel is not involved. “If she isn’t, it will be Senate Bill 2. I will file it and if they don’t want to move it next year then we’ll move it in 2017 when he’s no longer a member of the Florida Legislature,” Lee said of Workman.

The excellent review in the Palm Beach Post is available here.

Florida Alimony Reform and Equal Timesharing (Custody)

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Friday, April 24, 2015.

There are two bills in the Florida House and Senate to drastically change alimony. This week, both the House and Senate bills passed their remaining committees and are ready for floor votes. So why write about custody?

I’ve written about equal timesharing before. The reason for the latest update is that both alimony bills have strong language about how judges must award custody rights to parents. But each is slightly different fro each other.

The bills have different language, but both will dramatically change the laws of custody in Florida if passed and signed by the governor.

Senate Bill 1248

“Approximately equal time-sharing with a minor child by both parents is presumed to be in the best interest of the child.”

Senate bill 1248 creates a presumption that approximately equal timesharing with a child by both parents is in the child’s best interest. However, a court can establish an unequal timesharing arrangement if it wants.

The judge would have to show an unequal timesharing arrangement is best, and make written findings as to why. The Senate bill has an October 1, 2015 effective date.

House Bill 943

It is further the public policy of this state that a child’s interests are ordinarily best served by the equal and active involvement of both parents in the child’s life. Absent good cause, it is in the minor child’s best interests to have substantial time sharing with both parents.

The House bill started as strictly an alimony bill. However, this week Rep. Burton added the amendment quoted above, and the timesharing provision is different from the Senate version.

First, the bill specifically sets forth a new public policy. It is not common for Florida public policy to be specifically expressed in the statute. What is rarer is that this adds to a previous public policy statement about timesharing already in the statute:

It is the public policy of this state that each minor child has frequent and continuing contact with both parents after the parents separate or the marriage of the parties is dissolved and to encourage parents to share the rights and responsibilities, and joys, of childrearing

Second, and unlike the Senate version, the bill does not require “equal timesharing” at all. What it does is codify what I think many judges presume: it allows willing parents to spend a substantial amount of time with their children after divorce and separation.

There is only a few more days left in the regular session of the Legislature this year. Anyone involved in a pending action, seeking to establish a new alimony or parenting plan case, or modify an existing one, should keep their eyes on Tallahassee.

The House Bill can be found here.

Alimony Reform Picking Up Press

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Monday, March 16, 2015.

The Miami Herald is reporting on the big changes to alimony being debated in a new bill. The Florida Legislature is considering a bill that would end permanent alimony, as well as set up formulas for time limits and amounts of alimony.

As the Miami Herald reports, Rep. Colleen Burton and Sen. Kelli Stargel, both Polk County Republicans, the sponsored bill (HB 943) which calls for payments that would last to between 25 and 75 percent of the length of the marriage.

I’ve written about alimony reform many times in the past, and especially the formulas for calculating both the amount and the term for alimony in earlier posts.

The bill’s supporters want an end to lifetime payments, saying recipients use existing law to extort a meal ticket even when they could work.

Opponents say ending permanent alimony would make it impossible for mothers to stay home with their children, for fear of being left destitute, and punish women who give up careers to keep a family functioning.

“You can find extremes on both sides,” exploited alimony payers and recipients not getting just compensation, Burton said. In many cases, she said, awards vary widely in cases with similar circumstances.

“We’re attempting to provide direction to the courts and some parameters as to what people can expect.”

Stargel has pushed alimony changes for years, including a 2013 bill that Gov. Rick Scott vetoed because it retroactively applied to divorces that were already finalized.

She said the new bill, which wouldn’t be retroactive, is a negotiated compromise and expects former opponents, including the Florida Bar’s family law section, to support it.

But supporters of the current system are strongly opposing the measure.

Cynthia Mayer of Ponce Inlet, a member of the First Wives Advocacy group, called the bill “anti-women and anti-traditional family,” and said it could put alimony recipients, 97 percent of them women, on welfare in their later years.

Another member, Cathy Jones of Lakeland, called it “the end of the stay-at-home choice for women in Florida.”

Jones said she quit work at her husband’s request while they were married so she could rear their children and create a social life to help his career.

Now, she said, he’s a millionaire whose hobby is exotic cars, while her net worth is $70,000; her mortgage won’t be paid off until she’s 84.

“Women like me are reliant upon alimony,” she said.

Asked whether Scott would back a bill that’s not retroactive, spokeswoman Jeri Bustamante said he “will review any legislation that comes to his desk.”

Florida Alimony Reform Update

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Wednesday, March 11, 2015.

With the Legislature in session, alimony reform in Florida is on the top of everyone’s minds. Last week I pointed out the heart of the new statute, alimony guidelines. But there are some other new updates in the bill.

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Income and Potential Income

Under the current statute, income is not well defined. Under the proposed law, there will be an extensive list of what income is for alimony.

There is also a new item: “potential income”. Potential income is income which could be earned using your best efforts. In other words, if you were employed before, potential income is the income you could earn by working at a locally available, full-time job commensurate with your education, training, and experience. If you have investments, it would be the reasonably expected return from your investments.

Underemployed

Are you underemployed? Under the new statute, “underemployed” means you are not working full-time in a position which is appropriate, based upon your educational training and experience, and available near your residence.

Standard of Living

Standard of living was historically a major factor in awarding alimony. But under the proposed statute, the standard of living for two households will be presumed to be lower than a single-married household, and that judges must consider that fact.

Absolute Maximum Alimony Payment

The bill would limit the total alimony and child support payment by prohibiting the amount from exceeding more than 55% of the payor’s net income. Under the current statute there is no alimony maximum.

New Spouses

I’ve written extensively about the impact of a new spouse on discovery. Can you subpoena a new husband’s tax returns or take his deposition?

The financial information of a new spouse is inadmissible, and may not be considered as a part of any modification action, unless a party is claiming that his or her income has decreased since the marriage.

Even then, the financial information of the new spouse is discoverable and admissible only to the extent necessary to establish whether the party claiming that his or her income has decreased is diverting income or assets to the subsequent spouse that might otherwise be available for the payment of alimony.

Prevailing Party Attorneys’ Fees

The new bill requires the side that unnecessarily promotes or defends against an alimony modification to pay fees to the other side. This is popularly known as a “prevailing party” attorneys’ fee provision.

Besides the guidelines, which totally change the way alimony is decided in Florida, the new alimony reform bill contains a lot of new ideas and ways of deciding on the amount and term of alimony. The bill is something to follow.

House bill 943 can be read here.

March Madness: Florida Alimony Reform Update

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Friday, March 6, 2015.

March starts the new legislative session. For alimony reform, a House bill has already been filed which changes alimony. And we’ll have an insulting new name for marriages, they’ll be called: Low End Marriages.

I’ve written about alimony reform before. Florida may be getting alimony guidelines, which may take some guess work out of alimony, but many will be unhappy with the amounts and length of alimony.

How much will your alimony be? The bill proposes two ways to calculate alimony: one for High End marriages, and one for Low End marriages. Whether your marriage is “high end” or “low end” depends upon how long it lasts.

If the marriage is more than 20 years long, than it’s a High End Marriage. If 20 years or less, it’s a Low End Marriage.

Alimony in Low End Marriages

The low end of the alimony amount range is a simple calculation: (0.0125 x the years of marriage) x the difference between the monthly gross incomes of the parties.

Ex) For a 20 year marriage, where the Husband and Wife have a $10,000/month difference in income, the presumptive alimony award would be $2,500/month.

Alimony in High End Marriages

The high end of the alimony amount range is calculated at a 2% of the term of the marriage: (0.020 x the years of marriage) x the difference between the monthly gross incomes of the parties

Ex) In a 21-year marriage, where the Husband and Wife have a $10,000/month difference in income, the presumptive alimony award would be $4,200/month.

How Long Will Alimony Last

How long will alimony last? That will also be a calculation too. If the marriage is Low End, the duration is 25% of the length of the marriage. If High End, the term would be 75% of the length.

Ex) For a 20 year marriage, the presumptive alimony term would be 5-years.

Ex) For a 21 year marriage, the presumptive alimony term would last 15.75 years.

If this passes, you’ve got to at least love Florida’s official new terms for marriages as “low end”. Really? Why not call them “Trailer Trash Marriages”?

This is not an opinion blog, but really, who thought THAT up? How much alimony is a judge likely to award in a “low end”, cheap marriage?

If the legislative intent was to insult the institution of marriage, officially calling them “low end” is a great way to do it.

There will likely be changes to the bill. Whatever its final version, alimony reform in Florida appears likely. I’ll have more to say on Florida Alimony Reform in other posts.

The House bill is available here.

Refusing to Accept Alimony?

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Wednesday, November 19, 2014.

Alimony reform should be back on the table in the next legislative session now that the governor election is over. But just because alimony is available, not every client accepts it. A Forbes article explains why.

Suzan French married at 18, soon after had a daughter and found herself unhappily married. “My husband was a nice guy but worked 12 to 16 hours per day. “My marriage allowed me to stay home full-time with my daughter,” says French.

“That was a luxury – not a job. I was compensated. I had a nice home, drove a nice car, had access to a bank account. Asking for alimony would be like asking for a pension for a job I no longer did. It just didn’t seem fair.”

It took her 10 years of attending community college part-time, but eventually she graduated from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Today, she owns a public relations and marketing company, owns her home and is putting two daughters through college.

“Sometimes if you have too much of a cushion you’re not as aggressive in pursuing your dreams.”

Dana Lin was also a stay-at-home mom for most of her marriage, and like Starrick, admits there was a measure of pride in not pursuing alimony in her divorce, even though she could barely support herself. “I didn’t want anyone to say I couldn’t make it without him.”

Lin pursued her dream of being a screenwriter, today working as a script doctor and ghostwriter. Two years ago with a partner she launched Zen Life Services, which provides stress training management skills to law enforcement employees.

“Living lean taught me to be more disciplined,” she says. “Sometimes if you have too much of a cushion you’re not as aggressive in pursuing your dreams have.”

The Forbes article can be read here.