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How Much Can the Court Make You Pay in Alimony in an Orlando, Florida Area Divorce Case?

The amount the court can make you pay in alimony in an Orlando, Florida area dissolution of marriage case depends on your spouse’s need for alimony and your ability to pay alimony. The trial court cannot award an amount of alimony that exceeds or nearly exhausts a payor spouse’s income. The trial court must examine the payor spouse’s monthly surplus.  

How it’s Determined

Alimony is calculated by looking at the surplus left at the end of the month from the payor spouse’s net income. Net income is the amount the payor spouse actually takes home after deductions such as taxes, payment of their health insurance, and mandatory retirement. State workers usually have mandatory retirement contributions, but private sector employees usually do not have mandatory retirement contributions. What constitutes income is explained on the Florida Supreme Court Family Law financial affidavit. 

Filling Out a Financial Affidavit

If you make less than $50,000.00, then you fill out a short form financial affidavit. If you make $50,000.00 or over, then you fill out a long form financial affidavit. If you and your spouse are fighting over what your income and  surplus are each month, then you can hire a financial expert to review your mandatory disclosure along with your financial affidavit; and the expert can testify at a hearing or trial before the court as to what your income, expenses, and surplus is, if there is any surplus at the end of the month. 

If you have a deficit at the end of the month, then your argument to the court is that you cannot pay alimony because there is no surplus at the end of the month and therefore, the court cannot order alimony because there is no ability for you to pay alimony. 

Excessiveness in Alimony

Examples of excessiveness in alimony awards are an award of temporary child support and in-kind alimony where combined, the alimony and child support consumed ninety-seven percent (97%) of the payor spouse’s net monthly income. 

Further, Courts have reversed final judgments that failed to consider whether a party ordered to make payments has the financial ability to do so. Courts have found it reversible error where the lower court-trial court used the gross income rather than net income of the payor spouse to calculate payment of alimony; and it was unclear from the record whether the payor spouse had the ability to make the alimony payment and still afford their own living expenses. Lastly a court has been reversed where the order to pay alimony was more than half of payor spouse’s income and had placed the payor spouse in a perilous economic situation. 

If you have more questions regarding a Marital and Family Law matter, you may call Ann Marie Giordano Gilden at Ann Marie Giordano Gilden, P.A. at 407-732-7620 and set an initial consultation. 

This article is for informational purposes only and does not form an attorney client privilege.