Florida’s alimony bill has caused various changes in divorce proceedings since it took effect on July 1, 2023. Reactions for and against the alimony law emerged throughout the Sunshine State.
Most of the negative reactions to the new law stemmed from the elimination of permanent alimony. This means that an alimony payer no longer needs to provide indefinite allowance to an ex-spouse who has financial inability to meet basic needs.
Down to three alimony types
The no-fault divorce state just has three types of alimony now. Bridge-the-gap alimony aims to support a spouse’s transition to singlehood while durational alimony came about as an alternative to permanent periodic alimony. Finally, rehabilitative alimony seeks to help establish a spouse’s capacity for self-support via training, education or work experience.
New limits bound by time
The new law imposed a five-year limit on rehabilitative alimony. Those married for less than three years are not eligible for alimony anymore while couples with at least 20 years of marriage can get payments for up to 75 percent of their marriage term.
Alimony payers can also request to change the payment agreements based on their recipients’ supportive relationship history. The supportive relationship must be ongoing or it has happened in the past year.
Changes due to retirement
In addition, the new law allows alimony payers nearing retirement to request to change or end their agreements. Judges will decide on this based on their age, health, motivation for retirement, likelihood of returning to work and economic impact to recipients.
Tricky alimony proceedings
Navigating alimony proceedings has always been tricky. It’s more complicated now because of the new Florida alimony law. You would need legal support to work your way around the changes and get the alimony amount that you deserve.