Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Alimony

When alimony is ordered to be paid by one spouse to the other in a Florida divorce, the paying spouse cannot be left with significantly less net income than the recipient spouse absent a finding of exceptional circumstances. Alimony can take the form of direct cash payments to a spouse and/or payments made on behalf of a spouse such as health insurance premiums, rent, etc. In the case Rabadan v. Rabadan, 4D19-3219 (Fla. 4th DCA March 31, 2021), the court considered the former husband’s appeal of an alimony judgment forcing him to pay over $8,000.00 per month.

At a trial in their dissolution of marriage case, the parties offered the testimony of competing accountants. The former wife’s accountant testified the former husband had a net income of $15,260 per month and the former wife’s need was $9,523. The former husband’s accountant in contrast testified the former husband’s net income was negative $2,331 per month while the former wife’s need was $7,877 per month. The trial court accepted the former wife’s accountant’s assessment of the former husband’s income and ordered him to pay her $8,000 per month in alimony, plus health and dental insurance premiums with no cap on cost and ordered him to obtain life insurance to secure the award. The former husband appealed.

The appellate court reversed the alimony, life and health insurance awards, holding “When these additional expenses are added to the base alimony award, the Husband is left with "significantly less net income than the net income of the recipient" in violation of section 61.09(9). The trial court may leave a paying spouse with significantly less net income than the net income of the receiving spouse only when it makes ‘written findings of exceptional circumstances.’ Id. Understandably, the trial court wanted to ensure the Wife would have enough alimony to meet her needs, particularly since she was suffering from a terminal illness. But the trial court failed to make the requisite findings to warrant an exception to section 61.09(9).” The court also noted that where the trial court found the former wife needed a “residence large enough for one or more of her adult children to reside with her” since she needed their assistance with daily care, it was improper to consider this in determining the alimony amount since it would effectively require the former husband to provide support for an adult child.

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