Alimony laws in Florida have been a target for amendments for several times in the last 10 years-none of them have been successful and only 3 have made it to a governor’s desk. Yesterday, June 24, 2022, Governor DeSantis vetoed the latest attempt to change alimony laws in Florida.
Some with pending divorce cases, and many thinking about getting a divorce in Florida, should be feeling relieved.
Below are details of what the bill would have changed, the current alimony statute, other factors for alimony, and the two-part test for asking for alimony.
How Alimony Laws Would Have Changed
Under the bill, SB 1796, passed by both Houses of the Florida Legislature, there would have been several important changes.
These changes included:
- Prohibiting permanent alimony
- Limiting how long you could receive alimony in marriages of 20-plus years to no more than 75% of the marriage length
- Limiting rehabilitative alimony to 5 years
- No durational alimony for marriages of a duration of 3 years or less, unless the receiving spouse was disabled or a full-time caretaker of disabled children of the parties
You can read more at this Summary Page.
Current Alimony Laws in Florida
Florida’s alimony law is set out in Section 61.07, Florida Statutes.
It’s important to understand two things about alimony in Florida. The first is that just because you are married, it doesn’t mean you are automatically entitled to alimony. The second is that alimony is a right of both spouses, not just women.
The reason women are awarded alimony more often than men is not because there is a bias in the laws in favor of women. It is due to the fact that most women make less money than man. When we do the calculations for alimony, we are usually using a higher income for men and a lower income for women. I have had cases in which the wife did have to pay alimony to the husband.
Florida law currently provides for:
- Temporary alimony during the litigation. See Section 61.071 of the Statutes.
- Bridge-the-Gap alimony, limited to 2 years. Its purpose is to help one party get back on their feet right after the divorce.
- Rehabilitative alimony, currently with no limitation. The purpose of this type of alimony is to help a party establish the capacity to support themselves. For example, finishing college, vocational training and the like. By its very nature, the duration will be limited..
- Durational alimony is defined rather confusingly. The statue defines it as alimony which is not permanent alimony. It is simply alimony for a certain amount of time (a duration) and could be applicable to a short or long term marriage.
- Permanent alimony is just what it says.
Alimony and the Length of Marriage
Section 61.07 establishes a tier of sorts for alimony based on how long you have been married.
Marriages that are less than 7 years in length are considered short-term marriages. A marriage that has lasted more than 7 years but less than 17 years is considered a moderate-term marriage. And, finally, anything above 17 years is considered long-term. You start counting from the date you got married to the date the divorce action is filed.
Other Factors in Alimony Laws in Florida
Besides the above, you have to consider certain factors set out in the Statute that will also impact an alimony decision.
Things like the standard of living during the marriage, the contribution by each party to the marriage—and we are not talking about money only here. A contribution by one spouse to staying home taking care of the children and other being a “housewife” or “househusband” (yes, there are househusbands) is a significant contribution that allows the other party to go out and pursue their careers.
How Do You Get Alimony?
Now that you know the framework, this is the test for alimony-which is a two-step test.
To be able to get alimony, the first step is that you must need it financially. This means that from a financial standpoint, you will not be able to make ends meet unless you get financial help from your soon-to-be- former spouse.
The second step is that the other spouse must be able to afford it financially.
It is impossible to provide anything other than a general and simple example. Alimony is very fact-specific to individual cases. If you realize that you will need financial help to meet your expenses, but your spouse barely makes minimum wage and together you are having a hard time meeting your joint expenses, the chances are not good that you will get any alimony.
Conclusion
While this year’s crop of laws did not give us a new alimony law, we will most likely see another attempt at change. I bet that within the next 2 years we will be facing this issue again.
The trend in alimony for the last 15 years or so is toward limiting it. The current statute (passed in 2010, I think) implemented looking at the length of the marriage, and came up with durational alimony but still left in place permanent alimony. This latest attempt was going to do away with permanent alimony.
