For many workers who are paid hourly, a great deal of pay can be obtained through overtime. It may seem unfair to work a lot of extra hours, and to have that extra pay potentially be counted as income when determining the amount of alimony that has to be paid.
In Florida, in deciding whether or not to award alimony, the courts must decide if one spouse has a need for alimony and if the other spouse has the ability to pay alimony. When determining the amount of alimony, if any, that has to be paid, the courts look at a variety of factors, including how long the marriage lasted, the standard of living during the marriage, the age of and condition of each spouse, the income and assets of each party, each party’s contribution to the marriage, and each party’s earning capacity and educational level.
When determining a spouse’s income for the purposes of alimony awards, the court looks at net income. The court takes into consideration all sources of income available to either spouse, including bonuses and overtime.
A Florida appellate court has ruled that a spouse’s overtime pay is included when calculating alimony, if it is a regular occurrence. If the opportunity to earn overtime will not be available in the future, the court should not take that into consideration when calculating income.
If you are divorcing in Florida, one of your top considerations is probably whether or not you will have to pay alimony or will receive alimony, and how much. It’s vital that you work with an experienced divorce attorney. If you don’t work hard to protect your legal rights during a divorce, you will not be happy with the result.