Alimony Laws Changing Again

Florida’s alimony laws (also called spousal support) are evolving at a very rapid pace. There are currently two bills pending before the Florida Legislature that will once again change how a court awards alimony, the amount awarded, and the duration of the payments. The House version, HB 549, has already passed, and the Senate version, SB 748, is making progress. 

Whether good or bad, it appears to me that a majority of the changes are intended to protect the person paying alimony and make it harder for the person receiving alimony. Also, a majority of the changes are for long-term marriages (17 years or longer), and may not have an impact on shorter marriages. However, the Legislature appears to be trying to make alimony awards more predictable. You be the judge.

Some of the significant changes that are developing include the following:

LONG-TERM vs. PERMANENT

One of the most popular types of alimony is “permanent alimony” where, theoretically, the payor (the person who pays alimony) pays the other party alimony on a permanent basis. The new law would eliminate the term permanent alimony and replace it with “long-term” alimony. 

This change is interesting because it appears that the term “permanent” has been replaced with “long-term” without any other significant changes to this type of alimony’s application. It will be interesting to see whether this change has any real affect. What is the difference between the term “permanent” and the term “long-term?” Does replacing “permanent” with “long-term” suggest that courts must make a determination of when alimony will end? By way of analogy, is there a difference between being sentenced to 200 years in prison or life in prison?

ADULTERY

The current alimony law allows the court to consider whether one spouse was unfaithful in determining the amount of alimony to be paid. Under the proposed changes, alimony paid or not paid because of adultery would only matter if the adultery caused a significant reduction in marital assets. This would make the alimony laws consistent with Florida’s “no-fault” divorce status and consistent with how property is distributed (equitable distribution). 

For everything except alimony, presently the court does not care why the parties are getting a divorce and only cares that the marriage cannot continue. Thus, the term “no-fault” divorce.  Under the new law, alimony awards would be consistent with general Florida divorce law and would generally not take into account whether adultery had occurred.

SPECIFIC FINDINGS OF FACT

The court must make written findings on all of the factors the court must consider when awarding alimony. There would be 11 factors if the new law is enacted, and they roughly revolve around one party’s needs and the other party’s ability to pay. The new law would add a factor that takes into consideration the payor’s net available income after alimony payments are made. That apparently means an alimony payment that would not leave the payor with an insufficient income to support him or herself.

REMARRIAGE OR CO-HABITATION

One of the major changes in the 2010 alimony law was the recognition that a payee would not get re-married so he or she could continue to get alimony. In 2010, the Legislature recognized this problem and passed a law that alimony can be reduced or terminated if the payee is cohabitating (in a “supportive relationship”) with a significant other. 

Apparently there were situations where the Court agreed to reduce or eliminate alimony while the cohabitation situation was in place, but when the relationship ended, alimony was reinstated. The new law would divest the court of jurisdiction over alimony that has been terminated because of supportive relationships. This means that alimony would be cut off permanently, even if the new relationship ended.

RECOGNITION OF RETIREMENT SITUATIONS

One the most important changes I see is that the State is forcing the courts to recognize that people retire. Under today’s law, it is still difficult for a payor to reduce alimony even if he or she is 75, has been working for 45 years, and is ready to retire.  

I know I have dealt with too many cases where the payor is retiring, will experience a significant reduction of income, and perhaps may not have a pension or regular retirement income. The new law would consider retirement a significant change of circumstances as a matter of law and allow a reduction or termination of alimony. 

CONCLUSION

I personally believe that the Legislature is trying hard to bring some consistency and predictability to the alimony statutes.  Out of the five subjects in a divorce–property distribution, parental responsibility, child support, time-sharing, and alimony–alimony remains the most unpredictable aspect of litigation. The more direction the courts receive, the better lawyers will be able to advise their clients on the potential outcomes. This will save time, money, and sanity.