The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same
In 2013, both the State House and State Senate overwhelmingly passed an Alimony Reform bill, which was vetoed by Governor Scott just before the end of the legislative session. Since 2014 was an election year, the issue was not addressed. This year, however, it was everyone’s expectations that a reform bill would in fact finally be passed. The State House passed their version of the bill, which would have ended Permanent Alimony in this state. In addition, there were other changes in the law, including certain guidelines that could be followed in computing the amount of alimony that could be awarded.
The State Senate, however, had its own version of alimony reform. The main difference was a provision which was included that would have changed the time sharing law to a presumptive 50-50 division of time. This was not adopted by the House and before a compromise could be reached, the State House of Representatives ended their session early in protest over a totally unrelated issue.
This action by the House was never seen before and ultimately was ruled to be unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court. The ruling, however, did not change the outcome, since the session has already ended. The result being that once again an Alimony Reform bill, which was overwhelmingly approved, did not become law. It is anticipated that this issue will be back before the legislature in 2016.
Below is a summary of the existing laws concerning alimony. Florida lists several factors in determining whether alimony is appropriate. Some of these factors are:
- The standard of living established during the marriage
- The duration of the marriage
- The financial resources of each party
- The age and health of each party
If in fact based upon the above (as well as some other factors contained within the law) alimony is warranted, the issue then becomes what form of alimony? There are several possibilities. Each of the choices primarily depends on the length of marriage. A long term marriage is defined as a marriage of 17 years or more. This results in a presumption of Permanent Alimony. Even with such a presumption, an award of permanent alimony is not automatic.
Marriage of less than seven years is considered a short term marriage. A short term marriage could result in “Bridge the Gap” alimony which is awarded to assist a party by providing support to allow the party to make a transition from married to being single.
A marriage of greater than seven years is considered a moderate term marriage and could result in award of Durational Alimony. The purpose of Durational Alimony is to provide a party with economic assistance for a set period of time.
The above are just guidelines and there are in fact other factors which must be considered. As previously stated, the length of marriage is just one facto the Courts consider. It is best to consult with an experienced family law attorney for a further explanation.
(Excerpt from Evan Baron’s 7/2015 article published in “Our City Pembroke Pines” magazine)
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