There has been a lot of talk recently in Florida about potential changes to the alimony laws. While the state legislative session ended without passage of so-called alimony reform, there is always the possibility that the issue could be revived in 2015.
What’s behind the reform movement? A few years ago, the legislature decided to define the differences between short-term and long-term marriages, as well as any gray shading that might exist for medium-term marriages. The new law allowed the court to be more flexible in rewarding alimony for a shorter period of time, while also prodding the receiving spouse to re-enter the workforce. Or, in some cases, to enter it for the very first time.
In 2013, a new bill passed that allowed the awarding of alimony for half of the number of years – at most – that the parties had been married. The amount was to be based on a percentage of the paying party’s income. The standard of living during the marriage, which courts had previously taken into consideration, was no longer to be regarded when making the award, if any.
Perhaps even more concerning, the statute presumed that alimony shouldn’t be considered in marriages of ten or fewer years, unless one or the other spouse could persuade a court that such support was necessary when the marriage ended.
Then, Florida’s governor vetoed the 2013 Alimony Reform Law. Many experts believed that a new alimony law, similar to the 2013 one but with changes suitable to the governor, would be brought before the legislature this year.
This development had attorneys telling prospective recipients of alimony to seek to speed up events relating to their divorce, while at the same time advising potential alimony payers to consider delaying things a bit. As noted, a new bill did not successfully materialize.
It is precisely these sorts of circumstances that make it essential for anyone contemplating or faced with divorce to retain knowledgeable legal representation. Please consider calling our offices should you wish to speak to one of our Florida Family Law experts.
