In this week’s family law appellate blog, the Second District Court of Appeal directed a trial court to recalculate the parties’ child support obligations in light of the court’s exclusion from the mother’s income all of the automobile expenses paid by her business. The case is Mikhail v. Mikhail, Case No. Case No. 2D18-2153 (filed September 20, 2019). Trial Court Evidence was submitted at trial that showed the mother owned a company that reimbursed all of her automobile expenses, incurred both for business purposes and personal…

In this installment of Manta Law’s Family Law Appellate Blog, the Second District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded for the trial court to make findings regarding what portion of the former wife’s pension should be classified as a marital asset. The case is Pearson v. Pearson, Case No. 2D17-4012 (filed March 22, 2019). Trial Court Proceeding The former wife testified that she began to contribute to her retirement fund when she became a teacher in 2011. She was placed on administrative…

Alimony Must Be Based on Net (Not Gross) Income  The family law appellate opinion I’m blogging about this week touches on a number of different subjects: alimony, child support, and non-marital assets. The case, Julia v. Julia, comes to us from the Fourth District Court of Appeal (filed Jan. 16, 2019). The appellant obtained reversal of multiple parts of the trial court’s order. Permanent Alimony Finding The former husband argued that the trial court failed to make the finding required under…