Category Archives: alimony in florida

florida family law changes 2023

Florida Family Law Changes You Should Know About (2023)

alimony in florida, florida family law, timesharing in florida

Florida family law changes took effect recently.  Here you have the highlights of some significant changes to alimony and timesharing.

Please note that the online statutes, which you can find here from the Legislature have not been updated as of the date of this blog entry. 

Alimony in Florida 2023

The most significant change in alimony law in Florida is the elimination of permanent alimony.  You can still ask for bridge-the-gap alimony; or rehabilitative alimony, which is now capped at 5 years.  The legislature added temporary alimony to the alimony statute. 

The amendments made significant changes to durational alimony.  The provisions now include a cap as to how long you can get it, depending on the length of the marriage. It also added a formula or guideline as to the amount that you can get, which is to be calculated using your net income and that of your spouse.  Specifically, the cap is 35% of the difference in net income as calculate using the same formula as child support for calculation of net income.

Finally, which type of alimony you can claim will depend on how long you have been married.  A short-term marriage is defined as anything less than 10 years; a moderate-term marriage is one that lasts between 10 – 20 years; and a long-term marriage is 20 years or more.  Durational alimony cannot be granted in a marriage that has lasted 3 years or less.

There were no changes as to when you can ask for alimony, meaning that just being married, alone, is not the requirement that will get you alimony. If you are asking for alimony, you have to prove that you have a financial need for it.  It is not just a question of checking boxes and asking for the particular alimony you think you qualify for.  Additionally, you must also prove that your spouse has the financial ability to pay alimony.

Florida Family Law Changes to Timesharing

There is now a presumption of 50-50 timesharing when it comes to children in divorce or paternity.  This presumption can be eliminated if you show the court that such a 50-50 timesharing would not be in the best interest of the children.

New Support Statute for Dependent Adult Child

The Legislature created a new provision for the support of dependent adult children, Section 61.1255. 

Under this Statute, parents have a legal obligation to support an adult child who is dependent due to a physical or mental incapacity that began before the age of 18. This is really not a new obligation since this obligation was already recognized under Florida case law.  This new statute provides a framework, or guidance, as to how to calculate the financial obligation.

In addition, the statute is designed to work in furthering the right of a dependent adult child to obtain and/or qualify for any available federal/state benefits programs.  It explicitly provides that the child support guidelines used for establishing child support before the age of 18 do not apply.

You can file a suit under this statute at any time after the dependent adult child reaches the age of 17 years and 6 months, unless there is already an order of support in place.  Any support ordered to be paid under this statute would be paid to the dependent adult child, or an agent of the child under a durable power of attorney, or a aren’t or other person for the benefit of the dependent adult child.

Conclusion

These Florida family law changes caused quite a bit of disagreement with some.  By knowing about them, you can better prepare yourself. Those of us who practice family law have been busy with seminars to ensure that we are up to speed on what our clients may need.  While I provide the above as a summary of the changes you should not rely on what I described above.  You should consult a family law attorney in your area to provide you specific advice, tailored to your situation, if you have any questions about this changes and how they may impact you.

alimony laws in florida

Alimony Laws in Florida in 2022

alimony in florida

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.