Miami Inheritances and Alimony

What do Miami family law or alimony modification lawsuits have to do with Florida inheritance matters? Why are Florida divorce cases relevant to probate cases? What do South Beach estate litigators need to know about prenups and alimony? How important is it to hire an experienced Miami Beach appellate attorney for an alimony appeal? How can an appellate attorney help me to appeal a court order denying an alimony modification?

Miami Prenups and Inheritances

Your Miami estate planning lawyer or probate attorney can tell you that a prenuptial agreement (prenup) can protect your inheritance from your spouse in the case of death or divorce. In a prenup, you can specify how to divide up property and inheritances at the end of a marriage.

Miami family law and probate lawyers know that inherited assets can be considered in the award of alimony. However, by fixing the term and amount of alimony in a prenup, entangling an inheritance with a divorce can be avoided.

In the case of death, inherited assets are treated just as any other asset. Therefore, in the absence of a prenup, inherited assets are subject to spousal claims just like any other asset.

If you don’t have a prenup, you may find yourself needing to hire a Miami family law attorney to represent you in an alimony battle, a probate attorney to fight for your inheritance, and even a West Palm Beach appellate attorney if the modification lawsuit leads to an appeal.

Florida Alimony Modification Appeals

If you are involved in alimony litigation, or questioning whether or not you should execute a prenup prior to marriage, you may want to read Sjogren v. Sjogren, an October 28, 2020 Fourth DCA opinion. Although Sjogren v. Sjogren is not a family law case regarding inheritances, it is a good example of a Florida alimony dispute that may have been avoided if a prenup had been executed prior to marriage.

Here, the former husband appeals the trial court’s order denying his supplemental petition to modify alimony. When the parties got divorced, alimony was awarded to the former wife. Later, due to what the former husband believed to be a substantial change in circumstances, the former husband filed for modification of alimony.

The former husband argued that there had been a substantial change in circumstances since the entry of the alimony order. The trial concluded that the husband failed to prove a substantial change in circumstances regarding his ability to pay the alimony.

Although the appellate court in this family law appeal disagreed with the trial court’s conclusion, the appellate court affirmed the order denying the former husband’s petition, but without prejudice to him seeking temporary modification.

If you are involved in a Miami family law matter, and an appeal has been filed or you want to appeal a final order, consider interviewing an experienced Florida appellate attorney like Robert Hauser at Pankauski Lazarus. Mr. Hauser has been named a Board Certified Specialist by The Florida Bar in Appellate Practice since June 1, 2009. This designates him as an expert and specialist in appeals in Florida.

To consult with Mr. Hauser about a Florida civil appeal, free of charge, call (561) 475-2099 ext.101.