Divorce,Lawyer,Fault,and,Spous law Divorce Lawyer: Fault and Spousal Support in Louisiana
Bankruptcy is a situation, wherein an individual is termed as unable to discharge all the debts. When a person or a company is not able to pay off its creditors, it has an obligation to file a bankruptcy suit. In fact, a bankruptcy suit is a When you work with an attorney, you will have no problem reducing the risks associated with getting your case in front of a judge and jury, or other formal court, when you need to. However, every case is different. It is important to work wi
When seeking spousal support, it is best to maintain a fileof all pertinent documents that may be probative to your petition. Furthermore, it is important to make a strongshowing at the trial court level since the appellate review standard in faultmatters is the manifest error standard. That is why it is ever so more important to make a good impression. You need an experienced divorce lawyer.When a trial court makes a finding of fault, it is a factualdetermination and thus is subject to the manifest error standard of review. A showing of fault typically prohibits thedivorce lawyer or the party at fault from seeking permanent spousal support.To understand better how a divorce lawyer sees the issue offault in the context of the code, it can be beneficial to examine a case. In a 2010 case, the Louisiana Court of Appealfor the Fifth Circuit reviewed a trial courts judgment finding wife free offault and awarding her spousal support.The wife alleged husband made $200,000 annually. She indicated she was in need of permanentspousal support. The husband denied that he made $200,000 a year and went asfar as stating he never made more than $40,000 a year. Additionally,the husband accused the wife of being at fault. He asserted that on one occasion, wife threwboiling water from a stove pot all over him. As a result, the police came and she wasarrested. A protective order was issuedin favor of the husband.Though these facts sound severe, a divorce lawyer knows thatit is important to put them in context. Whenquestioned about this incident, wife stated she acted in self-defense. She asserted that husband was screaming andstarted coming after her with a knife. Shefurther asserted that she was disabled due to lupus and was in need of permanentspousal support. Husband denied that shewas unable to work due to her sickness and alleged that she is holding down twojobs under the table. After reviewingthe evidence and considering the law, the trial court ruled that the wife wasfree from fault and awarded her $2,000 a month in permanent spousal support. The husband appealed.Before advising a client to appeal a case, a divorce lawyermay consider the facts and whether the court may have been manifestlyerroneous. In the case at hand, theappellate court reviewed the record and determined that the wife was free fromfault but modified the permanent spousal support award. The appellate court determined that there wasno evidence to show that husband made $200,000 a year. As such, they determined his total monthlyincome was $1393. Based on this figure,the appellate court modified wifes spousal support to $490 monthly. Judge Dufresne filed a dissenting opinion inwhich he believes the matter should have been remanded to the trial court forthe taking of more live testimony. JudgeMcManus filed a concurring opinion agreeing that the spousal support shouldhave been modified but disagreed with the trial courts finding that wife wasfree from fault. Spousalsupport can be a tricky issue, so it is important that you speak with anattorney. This blog is onlyinformational. Will Beaumont can be reached in New Orleans, La.
Divorce,Lawyer,Fault,and,Spous