Man Who Owns Airplane Calls Ex-Wife Extravagant For Flying Economy Class To Attend Her Grandchild’s Birthday Party
After a marriage that lasted 17 years or more, the court may order the spouse with the higher income to pay the financially disadvantaged spouse permanent alimony. The amount should enable the financially disadvantaged spouse to maintain a lifestyle comparable to what the parties enjoyed during the marriage. One factor in determining the amount is the recipient spouse’s necessary expenses, which do not include financial assistance to adult children. (Almost all recipients of permanent alimony are old enough to be grandparents.) It is your choice to help your children as much as your finances allow, but when you are divorced, your ex-spouse is not involved in the decision. Unless the adult child is physically incapable of working due to a disability, the court cannot force your ex-spouse to give you money to give to your grown children or your grandchildren. If the court has ordered permanent alimony after your divorce, but you and your ex-spouse disagree about what amount is appropriate, contact a Palm Beach County alimony lawyer.
Ex-Wife Invests Alimony in Order to Help the Parties’ Children, but Ex-Husband Says She Is Being Irresponsible
Patricia and William divorced in 1999 after 20 years of marriage, at which time the youngest of their four children was 18. During the marriage, Patricia was a homemaker and the family lived well on William’s income as an ophthalmologist. In fact, “lived well” is an understatement. They owned two houses, each with an airplane hangar for one of their two airplanes. The divorce court awarded one of the airplanes to Patricia; she sold it and invested the money. (She was unable to work due to back problems, so this seemed like the wisest choice.) William paid $12,000 per month to Patricia in permanent alimony.
In 2014, William petitioned the court to reduce Patricia’s alimony to $1,800 per month, and the court modified the amount. He argued that, since Patricia had inherited money from her father, mostly in the form of the proceeds of the sale of his house, Patricia and her four siblings each received one fifth of the proceeds. Patricia made a new budget including the reduced alimony amount and the interest from her savings, but it was not enough. In her appeal, she listed as her expenses travel to visit her grandchildren for their births and birthdays, as well as assistance with her children’s education and expenses, including one son who lived with her and did not work due to mental illness. (The other three children lived outside Florida.) The court reversed the decision to reduce the alimony. It reasoned that it could not require William to pay Patricia to subsidize their children’s expenses, but that a man who owned had no business begrudging his ex-wife the price of airfare to visit their children and grandchildren.
Contact Us Today for Help
If you were affluent during your marriage, you contributed to the wealth; you deserve alimony that gives you more than just enough to get by. A Boca Raton alimony lawyer can help you get a fair alimony award. Contact Schwartz | White for a consultation on your case.
Resource:
scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7372814160304843794&q=divorce+jersey&hl=en&as_sdt=4,10&as_ylo=2011&as_yhi=2021
