Legal Question in Family Law in Connecticut
alimony
I�m seeking legal counsel related to a divorce granted in August 18, 2003 in New Haven, CT court. MY ex is filing a contempt related to back alimony during a period I laid off due to a pure business decision by our Board of Directors to scale back operations in my former VC-funded biotech company located in Washington state. MY performance appraisals as a cancer researcher and department head were always �exceeds expectations� - - across the board. I was unemployed from Nov 15 2004 until March 14, 2005 when I joined Serono, Inc., another biotech company, and moved to the Boston area (I reside in Quincy) Some context: My ex-wife resides with my 2 minor children in Mesa Arizona. She received 65% equity in our Connecticut home which I gave to her (the court sought 50:50 split), I also set aside $20K current street value stock in general Motors to help supplement our children�s college fund. The court also indicated this was purely voluntary. My wife finished her master�s in science education the last year of our marriage, has significant real-estate experience (was a top realtor in Texas for many years) and both of our children kids are in school 9 months of the year. She received $500/week in alimony and $378/week in child suppo
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: alimony
An inability to pay alimony during a period of unemployment may provide a sufficient basis to avoid a finding of contempt (which requires willful nonpayment). Even if contempt is not found, however, the alimony payments may still be due. Typically, an alimony order will not be completely set aside simply because a person is out of work. An alimony order may be modified downward under some circumstances if your income decreases; you would have to file a Motion for Modification, however, to accomplish that end.
The property settlement in the original divorce would not typically affect the nonpayment of ordered alimony subsequent to the divorce, as property settlements and support orders are separate. An exception might exist if the payment of alimony was in lieu of a property settlement or if the additional equity in the home over and above amounts ordered by the court were paid to satisfy your alimony obligation during the time you were not making weekly alimony payments.
If your income has decreased or your ex-wife's income has increased since the 2003 divorce as a result of her advanced degree, the change in circumstances might justify a change in the alimony amount, depending on the terms set out in the divorce decree. To change the alimony amount, a Motion for Modification would need to be filed.
These are generalities; Any attorney you retain will need to take a good look at the provisions in the original decree and will provide specific advice based on the terms of the judgment.
Feel free to contact me directly if I can answer more specific questions relating to your case.
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