Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Alimony

What does it mean to suspend or abate a Florida alimony obligation? This means the payor is experiencing temporary hardship that affects his or her ability to pay such as the loss of employment or temporary disability. This issue must be properly brought before the court to be considered. This was an issue in the case Pappas v. Pappas, 2D22-1791 (Fla. 2d DCA February 23, 2024).

The former wife was ordered to pay alimony in the parties’ original divorce proceedings. She filed a petition for modification alleging that she was demoted at work. Shortly before a hearing was set to occur on her petition, she filed a motion for continuance alleging she was on short term disability and therefore would be unable to provide current financial information for the hearing. At the hearing, the former wife presented evidence of her short-term disability as a basis for modifying or terminating alimony, over the former husband’s objection. The trial court ultimately entered an order reducing the former wife’s alimony obligation and suspending it based on her short-term disability. The former husband appealed.

The appellate court noted “In her petition to modify or terminate alimony, the Former Wife asserted as grounds only her demotion and the resulting diminution in pay. Nowhere in the petition did the Former Wife assert her short-term disability as grounds for modifying or suspending alimony; nor did she move to amend her petition to incorporate her disability as a basis for modification or suspension. Rather, she raised her disability only as grounds for continuing the hearing that had been set on her petition and on the Former Husband's contempt motion. Moreover, at that hearing, the Former Husband objected to the Former Wife's presentation of evidence regarding her disability and to the trial court's consideration of it as a basis for relief from her alimony obligation.”

The appellate court concluded that because the former husband did not consent to the former wife arguing her disability as a basis to suspend her alimony obligation, that portion of the order should be reversed. The granting of the former wife’s petition was not preserved for appeal since the former husband did not timely file a motion for reconsideration.

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