Orlando Alimony Attorney

 

Alimony Attorney, Orlando

After the court has equitably distributed the marital assets, it will consider the propriety of awarding alimony to either of the parties, which alimony may be rehabilitative or permanent in nature. The court may also order periodic payments or payments in lump sum or a combination of the two.

Florida’s New Alimony Law

After several attempts, Florida now has a new alimony statute effective July 1, 2023. The new statute (Florida Statute 61.08) in many ways codifies what was actually being done in practice, in particular with regard to durational alimony. First and foremost, there is no longer permanent alimony in Florida. Rather, durational alimony is now applied to marriages of longer than 20 years and cannot be awarded for any term longer than 75% of the length of the marriage. For marriages between 10 and 20 years, durational alimony will not extend longer than 60% of the length of the marriage. For marriages between 3 and 10 years, durational alimony will not be awarded for any period longer than 50% of the length of the marriage. Some exceptional circumstances could lead to a Court extending the length of time for durational alimony and those are listed in the new statute. Durational alimony will not be applied to marriages of less than 3 years. In addition, the amount of a durational alimony award cannot be greater than 35% of the difference between the parties’ net incomes, meaning income after taxes and health insurance for the parties.

Other changes include a cap in the length of rehabilitative alimony to 5 years, the removal of any modifications to bridge-the-gap alimony in amount or length, and the requirement that there be special circumstances to warrant the securing of alimony with life insurance. The new statute also allows a Court to consider other factors such as a supportive relationship or reasonable retirement age in making a determination for alimony.