Will Inheritance Affect My Alimony After A Divorce?

Receiving inheritance from your passed relatives can be an important source of financial support during difficult economic times. Economic pressures are especially great for divorced spouses, particularly if you’re raising children alone. Although you might be receiving alimony and child support, it’s still difficult to cover all your expenses and make ends meet. After all, many single spouses have to re-enter the workforce – perhaps after many years of acting as a stay-at-home parent or homemaker. But what happens when you receive inheritance after your divorce? Will this affect how much alimony money you receive? Let’s find out:

Alimony is Not Affected by Inheritance Until You Actually Receive the Money 

Even if you are on the verge of receiving inheritance at the time of your divorce, judges cannot take this into account when awarding alimony. The logic is simple: You haven’t actually received the money yet. But when you do receive your alimony, it’s generally a good idea to disclose these changes to the family court. If you try to keep these changes secret, it might backfire on you later.

When you actually receive your inheritance money, it will probably change your alimony payments – but only if your spouse can prove that this constitutes a substantial change in circumstances. It might be such a small amount that it doesn’t really change anything. On the other hand, your inheritance could be such that it removes your spouse’s obligations in their entirety. Things may become a little more complicated if you inherit assets in a less straightforward manner. For example, you might become a beneficiary of a trust fund, and the trust may only pay out a certain amount per year. You’ll need to speak with an attorney to determine how your inheritance will affect your alimony with any accuracy.

Florida Has Scaled Back its Alimony System 

Another important thing to consider is the fact that Florida has scaled back its alimony system, making permanent alimony very rare and making short-term, “rehabilitative” alimony the norm. This means that in most cases, you will only receive alimony for a short period of time.

For this reason, it might be best to continue receiving alimony for as long as possible while delaying your inheritance in some way. This means that you can experience the financial support of your alimony while still accessing your inheritance without any limitations. You also need to consider the fact that you might experience significant delays when receiving your inheritance, so you may experience the best of both worlds without having to do anything complicated.

Where Can I Find an Alimony Attorney in Orlando? 

If you’ve been searching for a qualified, experienced Orlando alimony attorney, look no further than Steve Marsee, P.A. We know that your alimony agreement can be complicated by a number of post-divorce factors – including inheritance. With our assistance, you can make sense of these changes and pursue the best possible outcome for your post-divorce financial security. Book your consultation as soon as possible to get started with an effective action plan.

Sources: 

floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/governor-vetoes-alimony-legislation/

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.08.html