Florida Appeals Court Examines Alimony Award
The State of Florida changed its rules involving alimony in 2023. Under the new rules, there is no more permanent alimony, only durational alimony, and it’s harder to qualify for. Suffice it to say, paying alimony is nobody’s favorite thing to do. But it is necessary, and the courts will award it in some cases. If they do, you, as a litigant, have the right to appeal the award. That’s precisely what happened in the case we’re going to talk about in this article, Wallace v. Wallace.
Background of the case
In the Wallace case, the parties were married, then separated; a dissolution trial was held over several days in 2023. During the trial, evidence was introduced regarding the former husband’s convictions for domestic battery and a violation of an injunction against the former wife. The parties stipulated that the former husband was convicted of domestic battery. The final judgment applied Florida Statutes in effect in 2021, and the former husband was awarded durational alimony of $4,703 per month for 52 months.
According to the trial court’s findings, the former husband was unemployed, unable to gain employment, limited to service-industry work at $15/hour, and his financial affidavit reflected a gross monthly income of $1,128.80.
The court found that the former husband was in need of alimony and that the wife had the ability to pay, which are required findings by statute. Other contested issues included valuation and distribution of retirement accounts, handling of post-filing contributions, inclusion of loans on accounts, classification of a vehicle, the marital home, and whether the court should reserve attorney fees.
The wife appealed the trial court’s decision. On appeal, the questions became:
- Did the trial court abuse its discretion in awarding durational alimony to the husband (were the factual findings on need and ability to pay supported by competent, substantial evidence)?
- Did the trial court improperly rely on income disparity between the parties as a justification for the award?
- Did the trial court err in valuing and distributing retirement accounts (including treatment of post-filing contributions) and associated loans?
- Did the court err in omitting the valuation or classification of certain assets or liabilities?
- Did the trial court err by failing to reserve jurisdiction to consider attorney’s fees and costs?
The appeal
In this case, the 4th District Court of Appeal reversed the portion of the final judgment that awarded durational alimony to the former husband, and remanded the case for reconsideration of the wife’s ability to pay and the husband’s need. The court directed that on remand, the trial court must not rely on income disparity between the spouses to establish “need”.
Ultimately, the court must determine whether the paying spouse has the ability to pay, and whether the receiving spouse has a need. In the Wallace case, that didn’t happen. Thus, the appeal was successful.
Talk to a Largo, FL, Divorce Lawyer Today
The Largo family attorneys at Cairns Law, P.A., represent the interests of those who are attempting to divorce. Call our office today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin discussing your next steps right away.
Source:
caselaw.findlaw.com/court/fl-district-court-of-appeal/117499171.html
