CHANGES TO ALIMONY LAWS

Florida Statute 61.08 is the alimony statute for Florida. Governor Christ recently signed legislation which made significant changes which may affect you.  These changes took effect on July 1, 2010 and apply to all cases filed and undisposed of as well as all new filings.  What follows is a rather long blog, but if you are facing divorce or have been ordered to pay alimony, it is important that you read what follows.  If you need any further help or want discussion about how these law changes affect you, please call my office at (407) 898-3150 and schedule a confidential appointment to discuss your case in detail.

Legislative changes:

Length of marriages now defined
The alimony statute now provides for the following presumptions:  a short term marriage is one of less than 7 years in length, a moderate term marriage is one of 7 years but less than 17, and a long term marriage is one of 17 years or greater.  This is huge since we now have a bright line application to follow to assist in determination of what exactly is a short, moderate or long term marriage.  This is also important in terms of determining what type of alimony, if any, is appropriate.

Types of alimony now defined
The legislation also now sets forth 4 different types of alimony in Florida that a Court may award. They are as follows:  1)  Bridge-the-gap alimony:  designed for short or moderate term marriages, to assist the lower income earning spouse in transitioning from married life to single life, is of a duration of not more than 2 years and is non-modifiable.  2)  Rehabilitative alimony:  designed for short to moderate term marriages, to help the lower income earning spouse up-date his or her skills, education and credentials or obtain new education, skills or credentials, for a term of years which can be modified upon a substantial change of circumstances.  3) Durational alimony:  when permanent alimony is not appropriate, to assist the lower income earning spouse to meeting day to day living expenses, the duration can be no longer than the marriage, term of the award cannot be modified unless exceptional circumstances exist but you can modify the amount by showing a substantial change in circumstances.  4) Permanent alimony:  designed for a long term marriage to assist the lower income earning spouse in meeting expenses to maintain standard of living as established during the marriage, the duration and amount is modifiable upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances and the term of the award is until the recipient spouse dies, remarries or is in a supportive relationship.

Factors used in considering if alimony appropriate
F.S. 61.08 also sets forth several factors that a court is to consider in determining whether there is an entitlement to alimony.  They are as follows:  a) the need of the recipient spouse and the ability to pay of the payor spouse; b) adultery; c) standard of living established, d) duration of the marriage; e) ages and health of the parties, f) financial resources of the parties; g) education, training and employability of the parties; h) contributions of each party to the marriage; i) responsibilities during marriage to the children; j) tax treatment of the alimony award; k) all sources of income; and l) any other factor the court needs to consider to do fairness between the parties.  

How is amount determined?
Unlike child support, there's no magic formula or way to determine the amount of alimony once an entitlement has been found.  Generally, Courts take into consideration each party's incomes from all sources, financial resources available to them and reasonable expenses before settling upon an amount.  What I tell people is that if one spouse makes in excess of twice the income of the other spouse, then we need to analyze your case in detail to determine what exposure, if any, there is to an alimony award.  I've been practicing family and marital law for over 18 years and have tried many alimony cases over the years.  I know the law and have the experience to tell you what you can expect from local judges. A well-respected local judge once told me, "A good lawyer knows the law, a great lawyer knows his judge."  Since so much of Marital and Family Law is judicial discretion, this statement rings very true.