Presently, when dealing with alimony and support in a divorce in these tough economic times, the husband and wife can both be in a difficult place financially when going through the divorce process. Since alimony in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida and all counties in Florida are based on need and ability to pay, it has become more common to have the usual bread-winning spouse (the Husband) earning significantly less or being unemployed altogether. This makes the second prong of alimony, the ability to pay, unrealized. Thus, the Wife gets no alimony. However, there is now a caveat to that assumption. The Florida Second District Court of Appeal in its decision in Eisemann v. Eisemann in March 2009, says that if the Wife wants to take a shot at more alimony after the divorce proceedings are final, and the Husband has gotten back on his feet and is earning more income, she can if she puts in the final judgment of the divorce that the Wife had greater needs which the husband could not meet at the time of the final judgment AND that the Wife was thus awarded a lower alimony amount. If this sentence is in the final divorce decree then the Wie can possibly get more alimony later even without meeting the usual requirement of having significantly greater needs. If you have an alimony question, please call our firm at 904-355-8888. We look forward to helping you.
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