In a divorce proceeding involving the nonpayment of child support, the initial judicial determination creates a rebuttable presumption that there is an ability to pay. In Fuller v. Fuller, the Florida Court of Appeal recently stated: "Jeffrey Fuller, the former husband, appeals an amended order on Nancy Dubay, the former wife's motion for civil contempt. We reverse that portion of the trial court's order finding him in contempt, but we affirm the remainder of the order without comment...
Child custody and visitation in Jupiter, Florida
In a child custody and visitation proceeding, where time-sharing is ordered, the non-custodial parent's right to the child on rotating holidays has become so routine and necessary that to deny it requires factual findings justifying that decision. In Mills v. Johnson, the Florida Court of Appeal stated: "Furthermore, the trial court erred in accepting and adopting a time sharing schedule that did not address holiday time-sharing. It is undisputed that the Former Husband failed to raise this issue in his exceptions to the magistrate's report. Nonetheless, if the errors in the magistrate's report are clear on its face, the trial court errs in adopting the report. See Torres v. Torres, 98 So. 3d 1171, 1171-72 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011).
Alimony in Palm Beach, Florida
In determining alimony in a divorce proceeding, a trial court is not required to equalize the financial position of the parties. In Mills v. Johnson, the Florida Court of Appeal stated: "Matthew Mills (Former Husband) appeals the final judgment of dissolution of marriage and order adopting the magistrate's amended report. The Former Husband contends that the trial court failed to properly impute income to Tracey Johnson (Former Wife) when calculating the child support award, that there was not competent, substantial evidence of the Former Wife's need for alimony and the Former Husband's ability to pay the alimony award, and that the time-sharing schedule is not in the best interests of the minor children and is otherwise flawed because it does not include holiday time-sharing...
North Palm Beach Divorce Lawyer; Child Support; Income Imputation
In a divorce proceeding, indefinite support from a parties' parents can be imputed to a parent. In Steele v. Love, the Florida Court of Appeal recently stated: "§ 61.30(2)(a)(13), Florida Statutes (2012), specifically lists "[rjeimbursed expenses or in kind payments to the extent that they reduce living expenses" as gross income to be considered in determining child support. Generally, gifts received from a party's parents are irrelevant for child support determination. Vorcheimer v. Vorcheimer, 780 So. 2d 1018, 1019 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (citing Shiveley v. Shiveley, 635 So. 2d 1021 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994)). However, regular periodic payments to a child by a parent are considered income for child-support determination. Ordini v. Ordini, 701 So. 2d 663, 666 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997) (citing Cooper v. Kahn, 696 So. 2d 1186 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)). Here, the former husband was unemployed but was starting a business that had not yielded any income. His parents paid for his living expenses for the nineteen months between the filing of the petition for dissolution of marriage and the trial...
