A Much-Needed Overhaul of Florida Alimony Awards

New Legislation Will Provide Guidance and ConsistencyAccording to Title VI § 61.08 of the Florida Statutes, alimony is a payment or allowance designed to ensure “equity and justice” between the parties involved in a divorce proceeding. Recently passed legislation – that will take effect on July 1, 2010 – provides sweeping revisions to laws governing alimony determinations. While child support has always been addressed in great detail, the statutes have provided relatively little guidance for judges to decide whether and what amount of spousal support is appropriate.Why Was the Law Changed? Legal practitioners have long argued in support of modernized and clarified alimony laws. The existing law was seen as outdated and vague, not providing specific guidance to make fair and proper determinations about the propriety of an award. This ambiguity particularly affected couples whose marriages were classified as neither short-term nor long-term; in those instances, judges had complete discretion to grant awards – they were not bound by legal constraints. Furthermore, there was no statutory guidance and a disparity among the various district courts of appeal as to what marital duration constitutes a short-term, grey-area, or long-term marriage for purposes of determining alimony presumptions.How Is the New Law Different?The revisions add a great deal of detail to the determination of initial alimony awards, the types of awards that are available, and the modification of such awards. The statutory revisions continue to include the previous factors relative to an alimony determination:

• Standard of living
• Duration of the marriage
• Age and physical/mental condition of both parties
• Financial resources available to each
• Earning capacity, educational, marketable skills and employability of each
• Contribution to the marriage
• Any other factors that will further the goals of equity and justice

Just as it did previously, the court has to perform a factual analysis of the parties’ finances before considering an award, including an examination of whether the party seeking alimony actually needs it and if the one who would be paying it can afford to do so. In addition, the legislature has added the following three new factors which the court must consider in awarding alimony:

• The responsibilities of each party to the minor children they have in common
• The tax treatment and consequences to both parties of any alimony award, including the designation of all or a portion of the payment as a non-taxable, non-deductible payment.
• All sources of income available to either party, including income available to either party through investments of any asset held by that party.

Another long-overdue change to the law concerns the codification of the various forms of alimony, as well as specific guidelines for classifying the duration of a marriage. The new law presumes that a marriage of less than seven years is short-term, one between seven and 17 years is moderate-term, and one longer than 17 years is long-term. The various forms of alimony that may be awarded are as follows:Bridge-the-gap Alimony: May be awarded to assist a party by providing support to allow the party to make a transition from being married to being single. Bridge-the-gap alimony is designed to assist a party with legitimate identifiable short-term needs, and the length of an award may not exceed 2 years. An award of bridge-the-gap alimony terminates upon the death of either party or upon the remarriage of the party receiving alimony. An award of bridge-the-gap alimony shall not be modifiable in amount or duration.Rehabilitative Alimony: Awarded to assist a party in establishing the capacity for self-support through either:

1. The redevelopment of previous skills or credentials; or
2. The acquisition of education, training, or work 113 experience necessary to develop appropriate employment skills or 114 credentials.

A final judgment or order of rehabilitative alimony must have findings of fact showing a “specific and defined rehabilitative plan.”An award of rehabilitative alimony may be modified or terminated based upon a substantial change in circumstances, upon noncompliance with the rehabilitative plan, or upon completion of the rehabilitative plan.Durational Alimony: Awarded when permanent periodic alimony is inappropriate. The purpose of durational alimony is to provide a party with economic assistance for a set period of time following a marriage of short or moderate duration.An award of durational alimony terminates upon the death of either party or upon the remarriage of the party receiving alimony.The amount of an award of durational alimony may be modified or terminated based upon a substantial change in circumstances.The length of durational alimony may not be modified absent exceptional circumstances.The length of durational alimony may not exceed the length of the marriage. Permanent Alimony: Awarded to provide for the needs and necessities of life as they were established during the marriage of the parties for a party who lacks the financial ability to meet his or her needs and necessities of life following divorce.Permanent alimony may be awarded following a marriage of long duration, following a marriage of moderate duration if such an award is appropriate upon consideration of the following factors:An award of permanent alimony terminates upon the death of either party or upon the remarriage of the party receiving alimony.An award may be modified or terminated based upon a substantial change in circumstances or upon the existence of a supportive relationship.A Complex New SystemEven though the new law will make it easier for judges to make fair and equitable determinations about the propriety of alimony awards, it is still complex and it could be difficult to understand on your own. If you have any questions about seeking or modifying alimony or fighting a request for it, you should contact an experienced family law attorney in your area.