It depends. A commonly raised defense to alimony is that the spouse seeking maintenance is in a supportive relationship and does not need maintenance. This argument works for alimony orders that are modifiable or which terminate upon remarriage. Other orders are non-modifiable and may continue even if your ex- spouse remarries.
You may seek enforcement of the court order by filing a Motion for Contempt. Your former spouse will have to prove that he/she is not willfully disobeying the court order. Your ex could have recently become unemployed, or ill and he/she can no longer afford the payments and will make those arguments in his/her defense. If you win the motion, the court can impose a wide range of penalties on your ex, such as a money judgment, judgment lien, writ of execution, a writ of garnishment or even jail time. If your ex has a habit of being delinquent, when paying you directly, you can seek an income deduction order so that the employer takes the money directly out of his/her paycheck.
Yes, either spouse may receive spousal maintenance.
You cannot reopen the case because you forgot or didn’t want to ask for alimony at the time of the divorce. In Florida, a marital settlement agreement can be set aside because of fraud, duress, coercion or unconscionability. These defenses are not easy and you must have clear and convincing evidence to prove the case. If fraud is asserted, the motion must be filed not more than 1 year after the judgment was entered, except in cases where the financial affidavit was fraudulent, there is no time limit.
Final Judgments of Dissolution of Marriage entered into on or after January 1, 2019 are subject to a new federal tax law. In these cases, the receiving spouse does not pay taxes on alimony payments but the payor spouse does. Under the old tax law the recipient spouse pays the income taxes and the payor spouse may claim the payments as a tax deduction. This law still applies to orders entered on or before December 31, 2018.
The specific requirements for a name change that is not a part of a divorce or adoption case are:
You file it in the county where you are a resident.
A name change petition could be denied if your reasons for doing so are:
No. After a name change petition has been granted, you are responsible from providing the different agencies with a certified copy of the judgement so that they can update their records. There could be delays in disbursing your benefits if you do not comply in a timely manner.
The process is relatively short and can be done in less than 2 months. You have to wait for the results of your criminal background check before the case can proceed to a final hearing.