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The parties are free to agree to a lot of things that the court cannot consider. When parties try to resolve a case, they’re free to think outside the box. They can agree. I love that idea. Thinking outside the box. That’s great. They can agree to things that the court can’t do. When you

Well, there are, in certain cases, alimony can be modifiable. In the state of Florida, unless an agreement says alimony is non-modifiable, any alimony awarded by the court would be modifiable based upon a showing of a substantial change of circumstances. That change of circumstances can be a variety of things. It can be a

Generally, I would recommend showing a rehabilitative plan. What is the cost of schooling to finish your education? How much do you anticipate you’ll be able to earn upon graduating? It really is dictated by the rehabilitative plan to make sure that a party truly is in need of rehabilitative alimony to become self-supporting upon

The other types of alimony are rehabilitative alimony. If one person stopped working during the marriage and wants to get into the workforce, the court can award rehabilitative alimony, which will rehabilitate them to be able to become self-supporting into the workforce. There’s durational alimony, which can be set for, which can be awarded for

If a party is going to use marital assets to pay for normal recurring living expenses during the divorce case, that they should probably keep an accounting and good records of all the money that they’ve used, how much they used and what the money was used for. So that in the event they need

I am a Florida Supreme Court-certified FA mediator. I do mediations for lawyers. I also attend mediations as a lawyer for one of the parties. So I’ve been on both sides of the mediation table, both as a mediator and as a litigator, and I’ve seen firsthand the benefits of the mediation process in highly

Most cases are resolved through the mediation process. Most cases are resolved through the mediation process, given the cost of litigation and the uncertainty of taking a case to trial. While everyone believes that they are right and they’re going to win in trial, no one ultimately knows or can guarantee what a third-party judge

I have to ask because for all, on behalf of all fur baby parents out there, I know we can’t include child-related expenses in alimony, but what about expenses for the pets? Is that an expense that the court might consider as a need? The court might consider pet expenses as a need if historically

Well, essentially for a second home, the court will want to make sure that the expenses do not go in default, that there’s no mortgage arrears, that the utilities stay on and are properly maintained. With respect to alimony for the party, it’s really what is that spouse’s recurring monthly expenses? How much food do

If the parties are still living together, Jennifer, then generally I would think the court would at least order that the status quo be maintained. What is status quo? Status quo essentially means, You took my question from me. However, I knew you were going to go there, Jennifer. However, the parties typically paid their