Alimony in Florida
One of the top concerns many men have when faced with a divorce is whether or not they will have to pay alimony, and if so, how much and for how long. Florida has yet to successfully modernize it's alimony statutes and this leaves the court with a large amount of discretion when making a determination on how much is paid, and for how long.
Generally speaking, alimony is based on one's “need” and another's “ability to pay.” You need both of these elements present before alimony is awarded to a party. Florida statutes help define what constitutes actual need and ability to pay with the following factors:
- The standard of living established during the marriage.
- The duration of the marriage.
- The age and the physical and emotional condition of each party.
- The financial resources of each party, including the nonmarital and the marital assets and liabilities distributed to each.
- The earning capacities, educational levels, vocational skills, and employability of the parties and, when applicable, the time necessary for either party to acquire sufficient education or training to enable such party to find appropriate employment.
- The contribution of each party to the marriage, including, but not limited to, services rendered in homemaking, child care, education, and career building of the other party.
- The responsibilities each party will have with regard to any minor children they have in common.
- The tax treatment and consequences to both parties of any alimony award, including the designation of all or a portion of the payment as a nontaxable, nondeductible payment.
- All sources of income available to either party, including income available to either party through investments of any asset held by that party.
- Any other factor necessary to do equity and justice between the parties.
These factors are not all-encompassing, and may include others deemed pertinent. For example, the court may take the circumstances of adultery, by either party, into consideration when making a determination. This can include the lavish spending of marital funds in the course of the affair.
In addition to these factors, case law will also be applied to help flesh-out the intent of the factors and determine how they are applied to a case's particular set of facts and circumstances.
Once need and ability to pay is determined, the court may award alimony in several ways: bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, durational, permanent, temporary, or, any combination of these forms of alimony. In addition, the the court may order that alimony be paid periodically, in lump-sum form, or a combination of the two.
Types of Alimony
Temporary: Also known as “pendente lite” (while the divorce is pending), temporary alimony is provided when one spouse is in need of financial support throughout the course of the divorce and automatically ends when the divorce is finalized.
Bridge-the-Gap:
This type of alimony begins after the divorce is finalized and is usually for a short period of time, with a maximum length of two years. This type of alimony is intended to help the recipient transition from married to single life and help them meet their legitimate, identifiable short-term needs. An example of this would be a spouse receiving living expenses while waiting for the marital home to sell, or money to cover the expense of renting an apartment and even furnishing it.
This type of alimony will terminate upon the death of either party, or if the receiving party gets married. Once awarded, the amount and duration of Bridge-the-Gap alimony is not modifiable.
Rehabilitative: This alimony is awarded in order for the receiving party to gain the ability of self-support through either the redevelopment of lapsed skills or credentials; or the training, education and work experience necessary to obtain employment skills or credentials.
In order to be awarded this type of alimony, the receiving party must first submit a specific and defined plan for rehabilitation. It can also be terminated or modified based upon a substantial change in circumstance, completion of the rehabilitation plan, or noncompliance with the plan.
Durational: This type of alimony may be awarded by a court when other types of alimony are insufficient to meet the receiving spouse's needs, or when permanent periodic alimony in not appropriate. However, the duration of the support may not exceed the length of the marriage as measured from the date of marriage to the filing for divorce.
The amount of durational alimony may be modified based on substantial change in circumstance, but its length may only be modified based upon exceptional circumstance and not to exceed the length of the marriage.
Permanent: Permanent alimony is awarded by a court when it is determined that other forms of alimony are insufficient to meet the recipient spouse's ongoing financial needs as they were established during the marriage. This type of alimony will continue until one of the parties die, or until the remarriage of the receiving spouse. It may be modified or terminated based on a substantial change in circumstance, or if the receiving spouse enters into a supportive relationship.
For a marriage of long duration (see below), this type of alimony can be awarded when the “needs” factors, discussed above, are considered by the court and deemed appropriate. For marriages of moderate duration, permanent alimony may be awarded based upon clear and convincing evidence of the above factors. For short-duration marriages, it may be awarded based only upon the written findings of exceptional circumstances. For example, it could be awarded if one spouse is rendered severely handicapped and is unable to become self-sustaining.
When determining the length of a marriage for the purposes of awarding alimony, there is a rebuttable presumption that a short-term marriage is less than seven years; a moderate-term marriage being greater than seven years, but less than 17 years; and a long-term marriage being 17 years or greater.
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