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What a Recent Court Case Says About Judging a Spouse’s Earnings Ability Re: Alimony

What a Recent Court Case Says About Judging a Spouse’s Earnings Ability Re: Alimony

When a couple is divorcing and one spouse requests alimony, the court looks at several things. Most notably, they consider the need said spouse has for alimony and the other spouse’s ability to pay said alimony. A recent case that went before the Second District Court of Appeal dealt with the first issue: Who’s job is it to determine whether or not the spouse requesting alimony can or can’t work?

The case was clear that in almost all cases, the burden falls to the spouse who claims they aren’t able to work or that they can’t work enough to support themselves. Read on to learn more about the case that resulted in this conclusion. If you have questions about your own divorce or spousal support, reach out to Law Offices of Torrence L. Howell at (909) 920-0908 for help.

More about the case in question

In the case that went before the court of appeals, the wife left the husband in 2013 after being married for 26 years. About a year after leaving her husband, she filed and was granted a domestic violence restraining order. It prevented the husband from getting within 100 yards of his wife. The husband then requested spousal support because he claimed that he couldn’t work in his field of sheet metal because he had a physical disability that he didn’t disclose.

The court noted two things about this claim. First, the Social Security Administration had already denied his request for disability insurance for these alleged injuries. Second, he never mentioned during divorce litigation that he was actively doing anything about looking for work.

The husband appealed

The husband didn’t like the court’s decision that he wasn’t eligible for alimony. He believed that he was wrongly denied alimony due to prejudice regarding the restraining order against him. The Second District did not agree. They supported the trial judge’s decision that the husband had not proven that he couldn’t support himself.

The Court went on to point out that the husband was young and had previously retired for reasons that had nothing to do with his alleged disability. They also said that he could find work without giving up his pension. This Court also took into consideration that he’d been turned down for Social Security Disability and that there was evidence that he was doing repairs on his home, which led the court to believe that his injury wouldn’t definitively prevent him from working.

The husband could have better supported his case

At Law Offices of Torrence L. Howell, if we were representing the husband there are several things we would have done to help his case. First, we would have shown the jobs he was being passed over for. second, we would have had him evaluated by an unbiased physician to show his injuries. Either or both of these steps could have resulted in a different outcome. It appears as though the man may have not felt he was eligible for alimony after all.

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My ex-wife hired an attorney which prompted me to do so for our divorce. Torrence Howell was highly recommended from a friend of mine who used Torrence’s services for a divorce just like mine. The results came out much better than he ever thought it would. With all things being equal I felt Torrence would

-Anonymous May 23, 2018

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