DIY Divorce in Florida

Florida Child Support & Imputed Income

Florida divorce law says that 

        Income on a monthly basis shall be imputed to an unemployed or underemployed             parent when such employment or underemployment is found to be voluntary on             that parent's part, absent physical or mental incapacity or other circumstances             over which the parent has no control. 

This requires a two-step process to properly impute income to a party:

        First, the trial court must conclude that the termination of income was voluntary;

        Second, the court must determine whether any subsequent underemployment "resulted from the             spouse's pursuit of his own interests or through less than diligent and bona fide efforts to find                 employment paying income at a level equal to or better than that formerly received."

Any spouse who is unemployed but actively pursuing a serious job search will not meet the second part of the process. When that is the case, child support is calculated based on only one parent's income. It is typical to see a requirement that the unemployed parent notify the court within 30 days of becoming employed. That's so both parents' incomes can be used to properly make the Florida child support calculation.

Life Insurance - What You Need to Know Before the Final Judgment

Today's post is from Peter J. Nathan

So your Florida divorce is final. You spent hours establishing a Parenting Plan and settlement agreement. The kids will spend the majority of time with you in the former marital home. There wasn't too much to divide since the home is upside down and it'd be crazy to sell now and both 401(k)s have dropped like lead balloons.

So one night months or years later,  your ex is out cruising and cruises himself into a major accident. He's tragically killed. But you're not too worried about the kids because the divorce required him to have life insurance just in case this happened.

When you contact the company, you find out that they can't tell you anything because you're not the policy owner. Frankly, it's probably better that you didn't hear over the phone that he changed the beneficiary to his new fiance when they bought that house together.

Is this legal? By law, the policy owner is the one who has control of the policy and the only one that can make changes. If your settlement agreement doesn't specify that the parent receiving child support is the policy owner of the other spouse's insurance, this could happen to you. Don't let this happen to you. Contact Peter J. Nathan to ensure you understand the in's and out's of life insurance.

Florida Child Support: New Law Defines Reasonable Cost for Health Insurance

A new

Florida

child support law passed in the last legislative session defines what is "reasonable" when it comes to the cost of health insurance for children. This is important because

Florida

child support orders must require health insurance coverage for children when the health insurance is reasonable in cost and accessible.

 

The cost of health insurance for the children is now presumed to be reasonable if it doesn't exceed 5% percent of the gross income of the parent who's responsible for paying for it, according to the new Florida Statute 61.13(2)(b)(1). Like any presumption, it can be overcome, but  the paying parent must prove why requiring insurance is unjust or inappropriate.

 

In real terms, this means that if you make $50,000/year, and health insurance for the kids costs $2,500/year ($209/month) or less, you must buy it because the cost is in the presumed reasonable range. The court can only deviate from this "presumed reasonable" requirement with written findings explaining why ordering or not ordering health insurance for the children would be unjust or inappropriate, based on evidence presented by the paying parent.

 

The Florida Legislature also changed the definition of accessible. Now, health insurance is accessible if it is available to be used in the county of the child's primary residence. If your time-sharing plan provides for equal time-sharing, health insurance is accessible if it is available to be used in either county where the child resides.

 

If coverage is available to either parent at a reasonable rate from a group health plan, the court can require the paying parent either provide health insurance coverage or reimburse the parent providing health insurance through an employer insurance plan.

 

Remember in the

Florida

child support calculation, the health insurance cost is in addition to the basic child support obligation. The same goes for uncovered medical expenses. These extra support items get apportioned between parents on the Florida Child Support Guidelines Worksheet.

A Legitimate Question - What Happens if the Baby Isn't Yours After All?

If you are paying child support for a child previously determined to be yours and think that the child is not, in fact, yours, you can petition the circuit court to disestablish paternity. Here's what you'll need to claim in your petition:

• Newly discovered evidence about paternity exists
• A properly done scientific test performed in past 90 days or affidavit that child was not available for testing
• You are current on court-ordered child support or just cause exists for not being current
• Child is under 18 years old
• You have not adopted the child
• The child was not conceived via artificial insemination during marriage to the mother
• You did not prevent the true biological father from asserting his paternity rights

Even if everything is in order, the court can still deny the request based on five different grounds. Those grounds include

Florida Child Support & Unemployment

Calculation of Florida child support uses the net incomes of both parents. So what happens if you lose your job? In this economy, it's happening to more and more people. If you pay child support, are you entitled to a decrease while unemployed? If you receive it, can you get more child support if you lose your job?

When calculating Florida child support, the judge must "impute" income to a parent who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, unless the lack of employment is the result of the spouse's physical incapacity or other circumstances beyond the parent's control. See Florida Statute 61.30(2)(b). That means that the reason the unemployed parent is unemployed is important. Company cutbacks are beyond a parent's control; being fired for cause is not.

Once it is established that the unemployment is based on reasons beyond the parent's control, the unemployed parent has to prove that s/he is using the best efforts to get another job. Judges want to see more than the minimal job search required for unemployment. Use all the means and methods you have to find work and be prepared to prove you've made your best efforts if you want to avoid imputed income or modify Florida child support.

If you've made your best efforts to find work and remain unemployed, the court will calculate your initial Florida child support based on your unemployment check and will likely order you to recalculate it once you get another job.

If you are trying to modify an existing Florida child support order based on unemployment, you also have to prove the unemployment is involuntary and you have used your best efforts to find work. If the modification of child support is granted it will only be a temporary modification. That's because once the child support amount is ordered, you must show that the substantial change of circumstances is permanent. The economy is not so bad that unemployment is permanent.

Bottom line: Assuming that you've done all you can to get a job and the reason for your unemployment is not voluntary on your part, you can petition for a temporary increase or reduction of Florida child support.