LAARWT
FOLLOW THE MONEY
By K. Dean Kantaras and Jeremy Simons
K. Dean Kantaras, Esq.
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 123
A fundamental truth in family law
matters, all family law matters,
is that the party’s financial
circumstances are disclosed
to the other party and to the court. The
primary way that a party discloses his or
her financial circumstances is through a
family law financial affidavit. A financial
affidavit requires disclosures of income,
deductions, regular reoccurring expenses,
assets and liabilities. Critically, the financial
affidavit requires a disclosure on whether a
party has a surplus of income each month
or a deficit each month.
A person’s surplus or deficit is very
similar to a cup full of water. At the end
of each month, a large chunk of water
is poured out to pay monthly expenses.
A cup that does not have any holes in
it holds a person’s resources sufficient
for each month’s expenses. Any extra
water, if the person is smart, overflows
to a savings account or similar type of
account. A cup with a hole in it, however,
will continuously deplete until there is
simply not enough water to pour in the
cup to pay all of the monthly expenses.
an inference that appellant’s earnings were
greater than he represented them to be,”
(793 So. 2d at 1158.) Tomaszewski reminds
parties in dissolution proceedings that
math matters. It is not difficult to infer
that someone is making more money
than they are reporting if their monthly
expenses exceed their income without a
logical explanation as to the origin of the
extra money. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: K. Dean Kantaras is
the managing partner of K. Dean Kantaras,
P.A., a firm handling cases in family law and
immigration. Mr. Kantaras is board certified
in marital and family law by the Florida Bar.
He has been practicing for over 25 years and
is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell. Jeremy
Simons has been practicing family law since
2006. He is past president of the West Pasco
Bar Association and has received numerous
awards, including the Sixth Judicial Circuit Pro
Bono Award and the Salvation Army Justice
Award. The law firm’s offices are located at
3531 Alternate 19, Palm Harbor, 34683, (727)
781-0000 and 1930 East Bay Drive, Largo,
33771, kantaraslaw.com.
And yet, interestingly, some people
show a significant deficit over many
months and yet still manage to pay their
bills. There is a huge hole in their cup, and
yet every single month they still pay all
their bills. People who over a course of
time make less than they spend and yet
still manage to pay all their bills run into
a fundamental math problem: Where is
the money stashed?
The court in Tomaszewski v. Tomaszewski,
(793 So. 2d 1156 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) asked
the same question to the husband. The
husband had a continuous and significant
negative cash flow for the duration of the
dissolution proceeding and did not have
any explanation for how he still managed
to make his monthly payments.
“That negative cash flow, not being
otherwise explained, reasonably supports