Category Archives: Alimony

Florida courts will typically impute income any time they feel that the financial picture one or both parties represent is not accurate. The court may impute income either on its own or it can impute income at the request of one party.

In Florida, income should not be imputed to a parent who must stay home from work to care for his or her disabled child(ren).

Here at The Law Offices of Gary S. Dolgin, we will put our knowledge and 30 years of experience to work for you, whether you are seeking alimony or defending a claim against alimony.

Being Board Certified in Marital and Family Law as well as being a Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator sets Gary Dolgin apart. He will put his expertise to work for you and advocate for the best possible result in your alimony case.

To schedule an alimony consultation with Board Certified Expert in Marital and Family Law in Tampa, Gary S. Dolgin, please call (813) 999-2772, and it will be our pleasure to help you.

Learn more about alimony by visiting:
Alimony Attorney Tampa – Gary S. Dolgin

Florida courts will typically impute income any time they feel that the financial picture one or both parties represent is not accurate. The court may impute income either on its own or it can impute income at the request of one party.

In Florida, it is improper to impute income to an unemployed party based on the speculation that employment will soon be found. Berger v. Berger,201 So.3d 819 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016); Ruiz v. Ruiz, 821 So.2d 1112 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002). If income is imputed, the recipient spouse may be entitled to rehabilitative or bridge-the-gap alimony until he or she becomes employed. Hollister v. Hollister, 965 So.2d 341 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007).

When there is insufficient evidence to determine the amount to impute, a presumption arises based on the spouse’s historical earnings; however, this presumption can be rebutted by the spouse to whom income is imputed. Lafferty v. Lafferty, 134 So.3d 1142 (Fla. DCA 2014).

It is impermissible to impute income to a party based on previous earnings that were only derived by illegal activity such as driving a truck more than the legal number of hours per week. Abbott v. Abbott, 832 So.2d 964 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). Conversely, it is error to impute a reduction in income to a party based on speculation that a business will not be as productive in the future. LaSala v. LaSala, 806 So.2d 602 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002).

Income from a second job may be considered for alimony purposes. If the second job later ends, modification may be appropriate. Hollinger v. Hollinger, 684 So.2d 286 (Fla. 3d DCA 1996).

Here at The Law Offices of Gary S. Dolgin, we will put our knowledge and 30 years of experience to work for you, whether you are seeking alimony or defending a claim against alimony.

Being Board Certified in Marital and Family Law as well as being a Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator sets Gary Dolgin apart. He will put his expertise to work for you and advocate for the best possible result in your alimony case.

To schedule an alimony consultation with Board Certified Expert in Marital and Family Law in Tampa, Gary S. Dolgin, please call (813) 999-2772, and it will be our pleasure to help you.

Learn more about alimony by visiting:
Divorce Attorney Tampa For Alimony – Gary S. Dolgin

Florida courts will typically impute income any time they feel that the financial picture one or both parties represent is not accurate. The court may impute income either on its own or it can impute income at the request of one party.

For example, in determining alimony, when a party causes the termination of his or her employment, the trial court may impute income to that party.

Here at The Law Offices of Gary S. Dolgin, we will put our knowledge and 30 years of experience to work for you, whether you are seeking alimony or defending a claim against alimony.

Being Board Certified in Marital and Family Law as well as being a Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator sets Gary Dolgin apart. He will put his expertise to work for you and advocate for the best possible result in your alimony case.

To schedule an alimony consultation with Board Certified Expert in Marital and Family Law in Tampa, Gary S. Dolgin, please call (813) 999-2772, and it will be our pleasure to help you.

Learn more about alimony by visiting:
Divorce Attorney Tampa For Alimony – Gary S. Dolgin

Employment income can be imputed to a spouse in determining alimony, but there must be competent, substantial evidence to support specific findings of fact regarding the source and amount of the income.

The spouse claiming income should be imputed to his or her voluntarily unemployed or underemployed spouse bears the burden of proof of employability and that jobs are available.

The court may impute income if a party has no income or insufficient earnings upon a showing that there is a capability to earn more by the use of more diligent efforts.

Here at The Law Offices of Gary S. Dolgin, we will put our knowledge and 30 years of experience to work for you, whether you are seeking alimony or defending a claim against alimony.

Being Board Certified in Marital and Family Law as well as being a Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator sets Gary Dolgin apart. He will put his expertise to work for you and advocate for the best possible result in your alimony case.

To schedule an alimony consultation with Board Certified Expert in Marital and Family Law in Tampa, Gary S. Dolgin, please call (813) 999-2772, and it will be our pleasure to help you.

Learn more about alimony by visiting:
Alimony Payments Lawyer Tampa Bay – Gary S. Dolgin

If future gift income of the receiving spouse is shown to be speculative, it should not be considered in an alimony calculation. Gardner v. Gardner, 692 So.2d 245 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997). See Vorcheimer v Vorcheimer, 780 So.2d 1018 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001).

However, gifts from the husband’s family received regularly throughout the marriage and relied on for support, were properly considered income in Ordini v. Ordini, 701 So.2d 663 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997).

Here at The Law Offices of Gary S. Dolgin, we will put our knowledge and 30 years of experience to work for you, whether you are seeking alimony or defending a claim against alimony.

Being Board Certified in Marital and Family Law as well as being a Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator sets Gary Dolgin apart. He will put his expertise to work for you and advocate for the best possible result in your alimony case.

To schedule an alimony consultation with Board Certified Expert in Marital and Family Law in Tampa, Gary S. Dolgin, please call (813) 999-2772, and it will be our pleasure to help you.

Learn more about alimony by visiting:
Tampa Spousal Support Lawyer- Gary S. Dolgin

The court must consider both salary and business income in an alimony calculation, including business income from a professional association and other income from Schedule E of IRS Form 1040.

In addition, stock options may be considered by the trial court as a candidate for possible inclusion as income available to a party after determining ability to pay.

Here at The Law Offices of Gary S. Dolgin, we will put our knowledge and 30 years of experience to work for you, whether you are seeking alimony or defending a claim against alimony.

Being Board Certified in Marital and Family Law as well as being a Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator sets Gary Dolgin apart. He will put his expertise to work for you and advocate for the best possible result in your alimony case.

To schedule an alimony consultation with Board Certified Expert in Marital and Family Law in Tampa, Gary S. Dolgin, please call (813) 999-2772, and it will be our pleasure to help you.

Learn more about alimony by visiting:
Tampa Alimony Lawyer- Gary S. Dolgin

There are several considerations that the court takes into account when determining alimony for a divorcing couple. One of these considerations is:

Just as the recipient spouse should not be required to diminish assets to be self-supporting, neither should the payor spouse have to sell assets to pay alimony.

Here at The Law Offices of Gary S. Dolgin, we will put our knowledge and 30 years of experience to work for you, whether you are seeking alimony or defending a claim against alimony.

Being Board Certified in Marital and Family Law as well as being a Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator sets Gary Dolgin apart. He will put his expertise to work for you and advocate for the best possible result in your alimony case.

To schedule an alimony consultation with Board Certified Expert in Marital and Family Law in Tampa, Gary S. Dolgin, please call (813) 999-2772, and it will be our pleasure to help you.

Learn more about alimony by visiting:
Tampa Alimony Attorney – Gary S. Dolgin

In determining a party’s ability to pay, the Court may consider net worth, past earnings, and the value of the parties’ assets, as well as current income.

The ability to pay should be based on a party’s net income, not gross income.

This includes actual overtime pay, income from part-time employment, and voluntary contributions to 401(k) plans.

Here at The Law Offices of Gary S. Dolgin, we will put our knowledge and 30 years of experience to work for you, whether you are seeking alimony or defending a claim against alimony.

Being Board Certified in Marital and Family Law as well as being a Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator sets Gary Dolgin apart. He will put his expertise to work for you and advocate for the best possible result in your alimony case.

To schedule an alimony consultation with Board Certified Expert in Marital and Family Law in Tampa, Gary S. Dolgin, please call (813) 999-2772, and it will be our pleasure to help you.

Learn more about alimony by visiting:
Alimony Attorney Tampa – Gary S. Dolgin

In second marriages to the same spouse, the Court may treat the two marriages as one continuous marriage if the remarriage is for the purpose of eliminating the alimony awarded in the first marriage. See Cox v. Cox, 659 So.2d 1051 (Fla. 1995)

However, the Court should update the standard of living to the current period. Forster v. Forster, 11 So.3d 972 (Fla. 5th DCA 2009).

Here at The Law Offices of Gary S. Dolgin, we will put our knowledge and 30 years of experience to work for you, whether you are seeking alimony or defending a claim against alimony.

Being Board Certified in Marital and Family Law as well as being a Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator sets Gary Dolgin apart. He will put his expertise to work for you and advocate for the best possible result in your alimony case.

To schedule an alimony consultation with Board Certified Expert in Marital and Family Law in Tampa, Gary S. Dolgin, please call (813) 999-2772, and it will be our pleasure to help you.

Learn more about alimony by visiting:
Divorce Attorney Tampa Alimony Expert – Gary S. Dolgin

In this month’s Newsletter The Law Offices of Gary S. Dolgin shared information about Senate Bill 1796 / House Bill 1395 which would change how alimony is paid if signed into law.

This legislation would do away with permanent alimony and set up maximum payments based on the duration of the marriage.

In addition, this Bill would require judges to begin with a “presumption” that children should split their time equally between parents.

This is not always in the best interest of the child, however, as there are numerous other factors that should be considered when it comes to determining timesharing.

You can see our March Newsletter here.

Here at The Law Offices of Gary S. Dolgin, we will put our knowledge and 30 years of experience to work for you, whether you are seeking alimony or defending a claim against alimony.

Being Board Certified in Marital and Family Law as well as being a Supreme Court Certified Family Law Mediator sets Gary Dolgin apart. He will put his expertise to work for you and advocate for the best possible result in your alimony case.

To schedule an alimony consultation with Board Certified Expert in Marital and Family Law in Tampa, Gary S. Dolgin, please call (813) 999-2772, and it will be our pleasure to help you.

Learn more about alimony by visiting:
Alimony Attorney Tampa – Gary S. Dolgin