Paying spousal support to your former spouse after marriage can be an emotionally and financially painful experience. And if a divorce is imminent, she will come at you asking for the kitchen sink. Below are some tactics and techniques that you can use to reduce alimony payments in your divorce case.
Act Smart Before Your Divorce
If Alimony is on the table, then you have likely been married for quite some time. And if you have been married for quite some time, you will likely discuss a pending divorce or separation with your spouse for months (or years) before actually filing.
So, be smart. Before even beginning a statutory analysis of alimony, a Florida Judge must assess the need and ability to pay of the parties. That means the Judge will be looking at your income first. When a divorce is on the horizon might not be the best time to double your hours at work, or work through the weekends if overtime is a possibility. Unfortunately, some men will do this in order to get out of the house, and the court will see an artificially inflated income amount for purposes of determining alimony.
This is not to say you should quit your job in anticipation of a divorce. Such behavior will anger the Judge and potentially put you in a situation where he or she may impute income accordingly.
On a related note: keep your spending reasonable when anticipating a divorce. One factor that the Courts look at when making an alimony determination is standard of living of the payee spouse. If you acquiesce to her spending $1K a month for personal grooming, you may have to pay later to keep her in this standard of living. Encourage thriftiness in a pending divorce. Both parties will appreciate the extra assets when they go their separate ways.
Not Settling is Riskier for Your Spouse Than for You
If you have not resolved your case prior to filing, then bet she will go for broke out of the gate. But as the parties settle into the litigation phase of the divorce, she will become more likely to settle. Why? Because if she truly is the "needy spouse", she will start by asking for what she wants, but very well may settle for only what she "needs". That is because Alimony in Florida is a wide open frontier, where Judges have great discretion with the amount of support they order. You may be angry and upset if you get whacked by the Judge and your spouse gets a great ward, but you won't be sent to the poorhouse. That's because an award that made it so you could not pay your bills would be reversible error.
The stakes are different for her, however. She needs some of the alimony she is requesting in order to pay her bills. She has more at stake if the Judge goes against her. Therefore, use her fear to your negotiating advantage.
If You have Assets, Negotiate with Them
Finally, in cases where the parties' have accumulated substantial assets, you would be wise to Negotiate with them. Remember, money is worth more today than it is tomorrow. Accordingly, use liquid assets as an incentive to your spouse to forgo or minimize alimony. An unequal distribution of the assets to your spouse could be enough.
Remember: The house, her investments, your investments, anything accrued during your marriage is both of yours. Just because the asset is not something you want does not mean you can't use it to effectuate a deal that eliminates or minimizes your alimony.
Above all else: Negotiate. No guidelines exist with minimum or maximum alimony payments. Use that to your advantage, and try to negotiate a reasonable resolution to your case that is alimony free.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tampa Alimony Attorney
Christian is a Tampa Attorney who focuses his practice on domestic related litigation. He operates a boutique firm with his wife Nicole.
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