In this family law appeal, Mr. Brownlee’s client was a former husband who was ordered by a trial court to pay monthly alimony to his ex-wife. Mr. Brownlee appealed the alimony decision to Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal and maintained that the trial court failed to make the necessary findings in support of the amount of alimony awarded. Mr. Brownlee also argued that the record suggested his client was unable to pay alimony. The Second District reversed. The Second DCA held the trial court’s alimony decision could not be affirmed because the trial court did not make appropriate findings to justify the alimony amount. Due to the absence of such findings, the Second DCA could not conclusively determine whether Mr. Brownlee’s client had the ability to pay any amount of alimony. Consequently, the Second DCA remanded the case back to the trial court to make the requisite findings. In addition, the Second DCA noted in its opinion that the record evidence indicated the amount of alimony awarded exhausts the former husband’s income, in contravention of well-settled Florida law.
