Kennedy v. Kennedy
The Fourth District held that income withholding orders garnishing 65% of a former husband's Social Security disability payments to collect nonmodifiable alimony arrearages do not violate the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act's 25% garnishment cap. Because the dissolution judgment incorporated the marital settlement agreement, ordered compliance with its alimony provision, and reserved enforcement jurisdiction, the obligation qualified as an 'order for the support of any person issued by a court of competent jurisdiction' under 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b)(1)(A).
Key facts
- Former husband and former wife in a dissolution of marriage case where the wife sought to enforce nonmodifiable alimony arrearages through income withholding orders.
- The trial court entered a dissolution judgment incorporating the marital settlement agreement and ordering compliance with its alimony provisions, which were deemed nonmodifiable; the wife subsequently obtained income withholding orders garnishing 65% of the former husband's Social Security disability payments to collect arrearages.
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Why it matters
This appears to be the first Florida decision construing the CCPA's garnishment exception as applied to alimony arising from an incorporated-but-not-merged MSA, and it creates an express split with Maryland's Naedel… — full analysis with a trial
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