New Alimony Trial questions

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

Hello,
my ex husband tried to get my alimony dismissed due to my bankruptcy but it was proven that I am a dependent spouse, so the judge ordered a new alimony trial. My ex husband’s infidelity and abandonment of myself and our then teenage daughter is what caused me to go into complete debt and have to file bankruptcy. The judge was inexperienced/newI received Alimony for 6 months then the judge stopped it due to my exhusbands attorney arguing it was not justified/correct and my ex’s attorney argued that the alimony order was not done properly and threatened to take it to appeals court then the judge admitted he forgot to include a few things in the order and so he ordered a new alimony trial. And unfortunately the judge said he could not temporarily reinstate my post separation support because it had ended when Alimony had been set in place. So, I have gone almost a year now without any support waiting for my court date in February to get back in front of the judge to get my alimony in place again. Here are my questions:

  1. Will the judge most likely award me a lump sum of retro active alimony for the year that I have had to go without any financial support from him?

I had to use all of the money I had from my portion from the sale of our house, which was all the extra money I had, to pay my rent payments and bills and divorce attorney fees for the past year. I was planning on using that money to buy another house since I lost mine in bankruptcy due to the divorce from his infidelities and abandonment.

  1. After the bankruptcy, I started trying to rebuild my credit and I got some credit cards. For the 6 months that I was receiving my alimony payments, I was using my credit cards then able to pay them right off each month to rebuild my credit. Slowly after my alimony stopped I had to start using them for bills and stuff and I gradually got some more credit cards and now I have built up about $10,000 in credit card debt in the past year since my alimony was stopped.
    A. Will the judge take this debt into consideration when awarding my alimony amount?

B. Can his attorney try to use this against me since I just filed bankruptcy 2 years ago, even thought all of the past debt and the current debt is due to my divorce due to my exhusbands abandonment and infidelities, bad faith actions and trying to continuously drain me financially?

  1. I recently found out that my ex husband has been spending thousands of dollars on luxury things seemingly to spend all his money before we get to the alimony trial so he can claim he has no money and cant afford to pay me etc. He has been taking vacations and trips to Jamaica, Washington DC, Napa Valley California etc. And dining at extremely expensive restaurants, for example The Angus Barn several times and just recently bought a new more expensive house and has 2 new sports cars etc.
  • Can I make the judge aware of this and will the judge take this into consideration in my favor when considering my alimony amount?
  1. My 22 year old daughter is on my medical insurance plan, and I pay $255 for her and $50 for myself on the plan, I have put my portion on my affidavit and left the spot for child medical blank, but I put the total amount I pay in the total amount area, as it shows it on my paystubs. I did this because I know I cannot include anything I help pay for my daughter on the affidavit and I dont want to give my exs attorney reason to attack me with.

-Is this okay? Can his attorney attack me for paying my daughters medical benefits?

  1. She is a college student and she needs the medical benefits as she has major depression.ptsd and anxiety and other health issues due to her fathers infidelities, actions and abandonment of us during her last year of highschool. I also have major depression and anxiety and health issues due to his actions, infidelities and abandonment and the divorce.

-Can I make the judge aware of this also? Should I try to get doctors notes for this for both of us?

-Can the judge take this into consideration when awarding my alimony amount?

  1. I am also asking the judge to award me attorneys fees especially since it put me into debt and I had to file bankruptcy, lost my house and am still having to pay attorneys fees due to the divorce issues still going on for 5 years now etc.
  • Do you think the judge is likely to award me attorneys fees ?
    -Will the order him to pay a lump sum if he awards it?

Thankyou so much.

2

(1) It is possible for the judge to order a lump sum but generally alimony is awarded in monthly payments for a specified period of time.

(2) Yes, if the supporting spouse should have been paying support and was not. If the alimony order was valid and enforceable and it terminated, then this may not be a consideration the judge can make.

(B) This will likely not be used against you, based on the information you’ve provided.

(3) Yes, this is relevant in an alimony trial because it shows spending on luxury items which shows that the supporting spouse likely has disposable income that could and should be used for alimony.

(4) No, you cannot be attacked for you paying medical expenses for your adult child. You may need to explain why you are paying medical expenses for your adult child and the judge may not be able to consider it as a necessary expense when looking at your financial affidavit (as this is an adult child instead of a minor child).

(5) Doctor notes are likely not necessary, but this reasoning is important so the judge has understanding of why you are paying medical expenses for an adult child. Yes, the judge can take this into consideration but might not because you are not legally obligated to provide financial support for an adult child unless you have a separation agreement or some other contract or court order that requires this of you.

(6) Yes, it is possible for your attorney’s fees to be awarded. If granted, it is likely to be awarded as a lump sum but could be in payments.

Anna Ayscue

Attorney with Rosen Law Firm Cary • Chapel Hill • Durham • Raleigh • Wake Forest

Rosen Online | Unlimited confidential access to a North Carolina attorney for $199/mo - click here

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