Saint Lucie County Legal Issues Blog

When a Florida couple decides to part ways, they must deal with various issues. These issues include property division, child custody, child support and alimony. Most of these affect a divorcing spouse's finances, as well as the taxes they have to pay. For instance, per the guidelines of the Internal Revenue Service, child support is never tax deductible and isn't considered income; however, alimony payments do have an effect on a person's tax obligations. Now, changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act have made solving disputes just a bit more complicated.

According to the new law, alimony and separate maintenance payments are no longer deductible for any divorce or separation agreement executed after December 31, 2018, or for any divorce or separation agreement modified after that date. So, for 2019, alimony payments will not be deductible for the paying spouse and will not be included in the income of the receiving spouse.

It is usual for people to change place from one state to another state after a divorce. Such change in place is smooth if the estranged couple did not have a child. However, if they had a child, the court must approve the relocation. The court will also pass an order about the visitation schedules, which both parents must respect. Many parents, however, disregard the original court order with the impression that they are protected from the laws of that state as they are now in another state. However, that is a major error of judgment.

Parents should know that such contempt for court orders is not only an offense per the original's state laws but it is also the violation of federal law. This law is known as the "Full Faith and Credit" for child custody determinations law and is stated under Title 28 Section 1738A of United States Codes.

It isn't easy to develop a child custody and visitation plan that meets the needs of both parents and the child. These arrangements get a lot more complicated when a custodial parent plans to relocate to another city in Florida or another state with the child after finalization of the divorce.

Under Florida law, a court will permit a child's relocation only when the move is in the best interests of the child. At the same time, the court must not determine that the custodial parent's request for relocation is an attempt at breaking contact of the child with the other parent. In fact, the relocating parent has to convince the court that all necessary measures for preserving the child relationship with the other parent will be in place after the move.

According to a number of studies, people aged 50 and above are divorcing at a historically high rate. In legal terms, these so-called gray divorces are essentially the same as divorces among younger people. However, divorce among older people, who have had more time to earn income and collect assets, can be more complex when it comes to the division of property.

According to a study by researchers at Bowling Green State University, incidents of gray divorce doubled between 1990 and 2010. The study found the rate of married couples aged 50 and above who filed for divorce was 4.9 out of every 1,000 in 1990. This doubled in 2010 to 10.1 divorces per 1,000 married couples. The report indicated that there are contributory factors to the increased divorce rate. Some of these factors are education, racial or ethnic characteristics, employment, longevity of marriage and the number of past marriages each spouse had.