Stop Alimony and Reduce Child Support

[Yaakov]

This is a Florida Family Law question. In my divorce mediation agreement the alimony I pay to my ex wife is supposed to stop if she gets married or dies. Also in the mediation agreement as my children reach the age of 18 they are supposed to drop off the child support obligation. My ex-wife got re-married in June 2010 and my middle daughter turned 18 in July 2010. I have submitted motions to the Court of Pinellas County to have the alimony stopped and for the Child support to be reduced by one child. I keep getting different answers from the clerks office. I live 4 hours away from Pinellas County now so I cannot just go in and talk to them. One said I had fill out supplemental petitions and have my ex-wife served, another said there is a department within the clerks office that reviews cases like this and it was reviewed and stopped and when I called a month later they told me that was not true they had no idea what I was talking about I had to submit motions. I have submitted the motions and called again as was told the alimony could be a motion but the child support had to be a supplemental petition which means I have to pay to have it submitted to the court and I have to pay to have my ex-wife served....................MEANWHILE she got an attorney and the attorney has filed a request to make ME PAY FOR HER ATTORNEY!!! THIS IS CRAZY!!! I am only asking for what is in my mediation papers to be DONE!!! Why do I have to pay all this for what I am ALREADY ENTITLED TO???????

[Attorney Cheri Hobbs]

Because you are attempting to modify child support and alimony it would be wise for you to file one single motion - a Supplemental Petition to Modify Alimony and Child Support. Have your ex personally served (or you can request her attorney to accept service of process on her behalf - get this in writing) and move forward.

[SES]

How sad! What a screwed up system that when the conditions of termination are met, the person who has been abused by the system must pay to have the order enforced. It should have ended automatically. There is no sane reason for the husband to have fil file again and incur legal fees for something he was awarded at the outset. This is why people hate the family law system in Florida. It is irrational and abusive.