I am presently involved in a Modification of Alimony hearing. I filed for the modification based on my mandatory retirement in March. Because my employer threw the company pension to the PBGC,
..(the government agency that take over failed retirement plans).. I have yet to receive a pension check and I don't expect to for several months. In the meantime, the judge has ordered an extended delay in the proceedings until we can find out how much my pension benefit will be and also to get the results from a Vocational Evaluation he ordered me to get.
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..... My Ex filed for divorce in May 1996, after 28 years of marriage. In the mediated settlement she got not only half of all our assets, including our home,and half of all retirement benefits I had accrued up till that time. Also, she got over $100K in exchange for my future retirement accumulations.
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..... So when I came up on my mandatory retirement date, ..(I was an airline pilot, and federal regulations prohibit me from working at the job that has been my only source of income for 37 years on or after my 60th birthday).. I filed for the termination of alimony, because my Ex already had gotten half my assets and half of ALL of my retirement benefits. I thought that paying alimony out of my remain half, to enhance her half would be ridiculous. Well, not according to Florida family law!
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..... It seems that the judge wants me to go out and start a new career to provide an income stream to provide my Ex with continuing alimony, even though I am prohibited by federal regulation from using my previous, aviation related, job experience and training. Obviously, he also wants to use my pension check, when they ever start, to provide a source of alimony, even though my Ex already got half a decade ago.
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..... Now that I have my Ex's Financial Affidavit, I understand why she is opposing this termination. It seems that she started her pension benefits soon after the divorce and now those monthly payments are only half what they should have been had she waited to start them when I retired. Also, she has spent a considerable portion of the "cash" assets that were turned over to her or at the time of the initial divorce, ten years ago. There is no evidence of her saving anything. Nor, did she try to improve her financial position by using her teaching degree or her nurses training or any other job.
This all occured at the same time she was receiving the largest amount of alimony my employer, with 85,000 employees, had ever paid out in payroll deduction. (And, I was far from being the highest paid employee). Bottom line....She has been on a decade long paid vacation, spending money like it grew on trees!
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..... Add to this the fact that the judge has ordered me to pay a significant proportion of my Ex's legal fees....($5,800 thus far).... as well as the costs of the Vocation Evaluation in addition to my own legal fees that will be difficult to keep under $30,000 before its all over with.
In his order justifying the payment of the Former wife's legal fees, the judge used a comparison of our checking and general savings accounts. He justified his order because me and my new wife's JOINT accounts contained more than my Ex's, even though my present wife, ..(since 2001).. doesn't have any rights in this type of hearing. It seems that she, too, can be penalized, but can't even protest the action.
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..... In addition, since loosing half of all I had a decade ago, I have lived a fairly conservative lifestyle to maximize my post-divorce savings. As an example, I'm still driving the same vehicle I drove to the courthouse in 1996. I didn't realize that by denying myself all these years, I was just providing the court with a source of money, so that the judge can replace what my Ex has already spent.
It seems that all that counts now is "Need vs Ability to Pay". The fact that she caused her "Need" by spending a lot of her assets since the divorce, doesn't count in this state. Only my "Ability to Pay" !
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.....If anyone out there knows of anything that would help me defend myself in court, I will appreciate any input.
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