DIVORCE: ALIMONY AND CHILD SUPPORT
BY JOEL H. FELDMAN

Often divorcing spouses are unsure whether they want to receive more child support or more alimony or, conversely, whether they want to pay more alimony or more child support. This article will briefly distinguish these two forms of payments.

Alimony is financial support for the spouse with less income than the paying spouse. No formula exists for computation of alimony. Rather, alimony is determined by a variety of factors including length of marriage, age of the parties, health of the parties, respective incomes of the parties, contributions of one party to the employment, earnings or education of the other party, etc. Alimony exists in several forms: (a) temporary, while the divorce case is ongoing; (b) bridge-the-gap, to allow a party to a short-term marriage to make the financial transition from married life to single life; (c) rehabilitative, to allow a spouse the opportunity to get education or job training to become self-supporting down the road; (d) lump sum, giving a spouse immediate cash instead of long-term payouts; and (e) permanent periodic alimony, payments until death or remarriage.

In considering these types of alimony, parties to a divorce must consider the tax consequences. Alimony that terminates upon death or remarriage is taxable to the receiving spouse and deductible to the paying spouse. Alimony that does not terminate upon these events, even if the alimony ends after a specific number of months or years, is neither taxable nor deductible.

Child support is neither taxable nor deductible. On the other hand, child support ends upon definite events, including marriage of a child, death of a child or a child reaching eighteen years (or, if that child is still in high school, until the child’s nineteenth birthday or graduation from high school, whichever occurs first). Child support is based upon a formula codified in Florida Statute 61.30, taking into account such factors as: (a) each spouse’s income, including alimony received; (b) health insurance premiums for each parent and the children; (c) daycare and other child care costs; and (d) special needs of the children. Child dependency deductions, child care tax credits, and life insurance to replace child support upon the death of the paying spouse also must be considered in determining child support payments.

Alimony can be waived; child support cannot. Alimony can be either modifiable in duration or amount, or non modifiable. Child support is always modifiable based upon increased or decreased needs of the children, changes in the incomes of the two parents, ages of the children, and where the children reside.

In a marriage of short duration, a spouse may wish to concentrate on maximizing child support rather than alimony. When it is likely that a spouse may remarry, the focus should be on greater child support and less alimony. However, for longer term marriages, greater attention must be placed on alimony, in all its forms, and careful analysis not just of the amount to be paid or received, but on the tax ramifications of the alimony payments, is critical.

JOEL H. FELDMAN is a partner in the law firm of FELDMAN & SCHNEIDERMAN, P.L., 401 Camino Gardens Boulevard, Boca Raton, Florida 33432 (www.feldmanlawoffice.com). His practice is almost exclusively in the area of divorce and matrimonial law. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and Duke University School of Law. He is rated "A V" by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and is rated "Preeminent" in the field of Family Law. He has received numerous awards for his charitable work in the community and multiple awards from the Palm Beach County Legal Aid Society. He can be reached at 561-392-4400 or at jfeldman@feldmanlawoffice.com.

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