Florida Alimony Reform: Ready or Not Here it Comes
Florida may soon become the second state in the country, behind Massachusetts’, to revise its Alimony Laws. After the Florida Senate voted 29-11 to alter alimony laws, it looks very likely that the Florida House will pass a similar bill. If this new legislation is enacted into law, state alimony standards will change drastically, impacting would-be alimony settlements in several aspects, including the following:
- This bill would bring an end to permanent alimony in Florida, even in the case of long duration marriages and exceptional circumstances.
- According to the new laws, durational alimony would be an option but only if the support-seeking party meets standards predetermined by the court pertaining to length of marriage and employability of each spouse.
- Bridge the gap, a short term form of alimony meant to aid in the transition from married to single life would be the preferred alimony of the court and utilized whenever possible in divorce proceedings.
- With respect to minor children the estranged couple may share, equal time-sharing of the children would be presumed unless one party has a history of violence or has served time in prison. In this case, it would be at the courts discretion which parent would have a majority of the time-sharing.
- Any alimony the courts did order to be paid would be caped based on the duration of the marriage and respective incomes of each party.
- Any spouse ordered to pay alimony may petition a judge to lower or terminate the payments upon retirement.
- If the supporting party does happen to re-marry, the assets of their new spouse would be irrelevant in any modification of payments to be made.
If the House does follow suit with the Senate, and if signed into law by the governor, these new aspects of alimony will quickly become a reality for families and divorce courts across the state.
For answers to your legal questions about this topic, or others, don’t hesitate to contact the Tampa Attorneys at Anton Garcia Law at (813) 907-9807 or on the web at http://og3.17a.myftpupload.com/
