What Does Your Spouse’s Ex Have To Do With Your Divorce?

Every marriage is unique, but you have probably heard the familiar statistics about factors that influence a couple’s likelihood of divorce.  Couples who are at least 26 at the time of their wedding are more likely to stay together than couples who married young.  Couples who only have sons are more likely to stay together than couples who only have daughters.  The more previous divorces you have gone through, the more likely your current marriage is to end in divorce.  Even though there are some members of the public who can recite the names of the six wives of Henry VIII, the seven husbands of Elizabeth Taylor, or the nine husbands of Zsa Zsa Gabor, the family law court considers every divorce case separately.  Only in the messiest divorces will the court ask a former spouse of one of the parties to testify, but if either party is on your second divorce or more, then details, especially financial ones, from the previous divorce, could be relevant to your current divorce.  A Boca Raton divorce lawyer can help you if you or your spouse has a storied past involving multiple divorces.

Your Spouse’s First Divorce Could Affect Your Current Financial Situation

Florida’s equitable distribution laws require judges to decide on a case-by-case basis the fairest way to divide marital assets and, if applicable, to award spousal support.  The court will consider each party’s separate and marital assets, as well as each party’s expenses.  Your spouse might own a house that was awarded to her in her previous divorce, and where you never resided with her; this counts as a separate asset, and the fact that she owns it increases the likelihood that you can keep the marital home.  The fact that she can sell the house or rent it out if she doesn’t want to live there also decreases the amount of alimony that you will have to pay.  If your spouse is entitled to a QDRO from her first husband’s retirement pension, this is also non-marital income.

If your spouse has minor children from a previous marriage, this also affects your child support.  Your spouse’s obligations to his children from his first marriage still stand, even now that he also has to pay child support for his children from his marriage to you.  The maximum amount that the court can order your spouse to pay is what he can afford without decreasing his current child support payments for the children from his first marriage.  Of course, child support amounts are modifiable, so if your spouse is in dire financial straits after his divorce from you, he can petition the court to modify the amount of one or both of his child support orders.

Contact Schwartz | White About Serial Divorce

A South Florida family law attorney can help you have the most painless divorce possible, even if this divorce is not your first rodeo.  Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.

Source:

sasforwomen.com/i-feel-sorry-for-my-exs-new-wife/