If you are involved in an alimony dispute, then some of the things that can help the most are the records you have been keeping. Therefore, you need to invest in these records long before any dispute arises. Below are some of the critical records to keep.
Dates
Keep records of each date (including month and year) you pay or receive the alimony. These records will be relevant if the recipient starts to claim that the defendant has missed or was late with some payments. Double-check the dates before recording them to avoid making a mistake.
Amount
The amount of alimony payment is also a significant record. The divorce agreement clearly spells out the amount to pay, but people don't send the right amount. Therefore, record each amount you pay or receive every month.
As the receiving person, you don't want the other person to claim that they have been sending you full amounts each month if they didn't pay full amounts on some months. As the paying person, you don't want the recipient to claim half-payments if they run into financial difficulties.
Check Number or Copy
For check payments, it's advisable to keep a copy of the check or at the very least the check number. Again, this is necessary for both parties. For the receiving person, the check might get canceled if the other person doesn't have money in their account. If you are the paying ex, then the check copy or number will help confirm that you made the payments.
Address
The alimony payments won't always be made to the same address; people move a lot. Therefore, you should keep records of the addresses to which the checks were sent.
Receipt
Some people pay alimony in cash. In such a case, there should be a receipt that both parties sign to prove receipts of the payments. Both of you should keep a copy of the receipt because cash payments don't create paper trails, and the receipt will be the only confirmation of payments.
Bank Details
Lastly, you should also keep the bank details of the payment. This includes the name of the bank and the account number from which the check is drawn. That way you can trace the payments if the recipient claims not to have received the money.
If alimony disputes do arise, consult a family lawyer like McKone & Unruh to help you iron them out. Hopefully, you will have the records to help you deal with the disputes.
