Legal Question in Family Law in Florida
I got a divorce in FL based on a proven adultery by my ex-wife. We have a 6 year old. I am already paying child support and also alimony to my wife. My ex-wife moved in with the other guy and also is working. Do I still must to pay alimony to my ex-wife, and if so, for how long? Can I get out of paying alimony since my divorced was based on adultery?
4 Answers from Attorneys
What does your dissolution of marriage state. If you are to pay alimony based on a time line or until she remarries then yes, you must pay. However, if you prove that this is a long term relationship then perhaps the court will reduce or drop the alimony.
Florida is a no fault state. Adultry does not affect the right to child support. You pay in accordance with the court's order.
If there has been a change of circumstances you may seek a court modification of support.
It's a little bit more complicated than the other lawyers have made it out to be. First, your divorce wasn't based on adultery. Adultery as a ground for divorce was abolished in th 1970s. Your divorce was granted on the ground of irreconcilable differences. Adultery played no part in the alimony award (or, at least, it shouldn't have). However, alimony may be modified. One of the major grounds for modification or termination of alimony (both by decisions of the appeals courts in Florida and by a relatively new Florida statute), is that the recipient of alimony gets involved in a romantic and financially supportive cohabitative relationship. In other words, they live with someone. Very often, alimony ends when a recipient starts living with someone. The issue is complicated, though, and the appellate courts are in some disagreement as to what happens when people live together. For instance, the appellate court in Lakeland has recently asked the Florida supreme court to clarify the disagreement amongst the courts. You should speak with a Family law attorney.