No More Permanent Alimony: The Alimony Reform Bill Was Finally Passed In Florida

Sydney Mitchell:

Hi. My name is Sydney Mitchell.

Matthew Brickman:

Hi, I’m Matthew Brickman, Florida Supreme court mediator. Welcome to the Mediate This! Podcast where we discuss everything mediation and conflict resolution.

(00:10):
There have been many changes in Florida family law in 2023, but one of the most anticipated and biggest changes was alimony reform, which has been attempted almost year after year, um, since 2016. Finally, in the state of Florida, the governor in the last hour of June, uh, passed alimony reform. He signed it. There’s no more permanent alimony in the state of Florida. Um, the only types of alimony that we have available is temporary. We have bridge the gap, we have rehabilitative, and we have durational. Those are the only types of alimony. Now, the court may award alimony to be paid in a lump sum or periodic, uh, payments, but lump sum alimony is not a type of alimony.

(01:16):
It is a form of payment. There’s actually only four types of alimony. Um, I’ve heard it, uh, say many a times that we have, uh, that that lump sum is a type of alimony. It’s a form of payment, not a type according to the statute. In the state of Florida, the only types of alimony is temporary, which is a new type bridge. The gap, which we have had rehabilitative, which we have had, and durational, which we have had permanent, is now a thing of the past. Um, to, to be awarded, uh, any type of alimony from a court, not in a negotiation, in a mediation agreement or between the parties. But if a court has to actually make the determination, the court shall make written findings of fact regarding the basis for awarding a form or any combination of forms of alimony, including the type of alimony and the length of time for which the alimony is awarded.

(02:22):
The court may award a combination of forms of alimony or forms of payment, including lump sum payments to provide greater economic assistance in order to allow the obligee or the receiver to achieve self-support. So that is new to the statute, that that language, uh, is new to the statute. Um, so okay, how do they actually then, uh, determine it? What do they look at? Well, the court will, uh, consider whether the party seeking support has an actual need for support and whether the other party has the ability to pay support. Um, from what I have read, and I’ve seen that has not changed, um, that has been the way it has been in the state of Florida, where if somebody is looking for alimony, they have the burden of proof to prove that they need it, and they have the burden of proof to prove that the other party has the ability to pay.

(03:31):
Um, once the court determines that one of the parties has a need and the other has the ability to pay, then the court will consider additional factors. If you cannot get past need and ability, well then there’s no alimony. If there’s no need and no ability, well then all of the other factors in determining the type and the length are null and void. So this is not, uh, to be taken as legal advice. If you need legal advice for your particular case, your particular situation, please reach out to an attorney or you can always reach out to me and I can give you a referral. Um, this is simply looking at the statute, looking at the changes and talking about, um, what’s new. But if you need to know the actual application of these changes to your particular case, please seek legal advice. Um, know the laws in your particular state.

(04:31):
What I’m discussing today are the alimony changes as it is in the state of Florida. So these only pertain to the state of Florida. Okay, so if a party can get through need and ability, well then what is the court going to look at? Well, they’re gonna look at the standard of living during the course of the marriage, and the anticipated needs of both parties after the divorce is granted. They’re gonna look at the duration of the marriage. Just because somebody may have a long duration does not automatically mean alimony many a times. Um, as a mediator, I get that in mediation where, um, you know, it’s a midterm or a long-term marriage and they walk in and say, this is an alimony case without even doing a need and an ability analysis. Just because a party has been married 20 years does not make it an alimony case.

(05:30):
Um, I’ll give you a quick example. I had a mediation, um, gosh, last week. Um, and as of the date of this recording, it’s the beginning of July. So this is the end of June, 2023. Um, it certainly looked like an alimony case. Um, the husband made about $25,000 more per year than the wife. The problem though, was the husband had or actually did not have adequate housing, um, to be able to exercise timesharing. So the child support that the husband owed to the wife, by the time you take her income and you give her alma, or sorry, child support, then she is left with more net income than he is. So the, it did not pass the muster with their two attorneys. It did not pass the muster of need and ability because, and we will get into it. One of the things that the court will look at is that alimony cannot leave the payor with less net income than the receiver.

(06:54):
Well, already, just with their incomes and with the child support, he has less net income without even doing an alimony analysis. And just because they were married for a very long time didn’t mean that it was an automatic alimony case. Um, in fact, there was no alimony granted in that case. So, um, going back to this, first, they will look at the standard of living. Then they’ll look at the duration of the marriage. So let’s look at what is new with duration of marriage. So a short-term marriage is now considered less than 10 years. A moderate term marriage is considered 10 to 20, and a long-term marriage is considered 20 years or more. And that will be important when we then look at, um, the calculations for potential alimony and how it all works. I will tell you that I’m not gonna get into, in this podcast, I’m not gonna get into all the numbers and calculations, because that would be like trying to get into all the numbers and calculations for child support.

(08:06):
What’s really great is as a practitioner, as a mediator under this new bill that has now become law, we have an alimony calculator that we will run in mediation that, that will look at the income their need, the ability, we’ll run child support using a calculator, and we will now have a calculator to determine what type of alimony is appropriate and how much based on all the new calculations. We’re not gonna get into all the calculations here, but we do have a calculator, which I’m thrilled to have because it’s gonna make, um, the whole idea of, of what I heard from the governors. The whole idea is to help try to cut down the cost of litigation, save the general public money from having to pay attorneys to go fight for possibilities that were up to, uh, the discretion of the court. So this is to give everybody a lot more certainty.

(09:11):
Um, so the third, the court, um, if you can get past need and ability. Third, the courts will look at the party’s age, physical and mental condition. They will then next look at the income and resources of both parties and the income earned from marital and non-marital assets. They’ll look at the earning capacities, educational levels, and, and employability of the parties. They, um, are to consider the ability of both of the parties to obtain the necessary skills or education to enable themselves to contribute to their own support and become self-supporting. They will look at the contribution that each of the parties made during the marriage, including education and career building, homemaking and childcare. They will look at the responsibilities that each of the parties will have with regards to their parenting plan, and then they will look at any other factor the courts, uh, of equity and justice should consider and making an alimony award.

(10:10):
And this may include a finding that a supportive relationship exists or that one of the parties may reasonably retire. Um, that’s a huge component with this too, is the whole retirement part, um, of, uh, the alimony. So, um, we’ll just talk real quick about then the different types of alimony. So we already talked about, you know, what is a short-term, moderate and long-term marriage. So then the types of alimony for each different, uh, subsection. So bridge the gap alimony may be awarded to assist somebody in making the transition from married life to single life. It is intended to assist a party, um, with their short-term needs and the length of an award, a bridge the gap alimony may not exceed two years. Then we have rehabilitative alimony that’s intended to provide education and training that will enable a party to become self-supporting or contribute to their own support.

(11:17):
And under the new alimony reform legislation, this rehabilitative alimony may not exceed five years. And then we’ve got durational. So durational, of course, now is there to, gives a whole calculation and breakdown, um, to encompass what we used to have with permanent alimony. Um, and so it may not exceed 50% of the length of a short-term marriage. It may not exceed 60% of the length of a moderate term marriage, and it may not exceed 75% of a long-term marriage. And an award of durational alimony may be extended under exceptional circumstances based upon, um, all of those other factors that we just talked about. Um, as well as, um, for other factors. So the first one is to the extent that the payee’s age and employability wholly or partially limit the payee’s ability to be self-supporting, next to the extent to which the payer’s available financial resources wholly or partially limit the payer’s ability to be self-supporting.

(12:43):
Next, the extent to which the pays mental or physical disability wholly or partially limits the payee’s ability to become self-supporting or actually to be self-supporting. And then finally, to the extent that the payee is the caregiver to the party’s mentally or physically disabled child. Um, so the amount of the durational alimony will be the amount that is required to meet the pays reasonable needs, or an amount that does not exceed 35% of the difference between the husband and wife’s net incomes, whichever amount is less. So again, in determining that we have a calculator now with the software that we use, um, to do equitable distribution and child support, we now have an alimony calculator where we simply put in the incomes. The program will then create a net income. We put in the date of marriage, the date of filing, it’ll automatically tell us how long the marriage was, and then it will tell us then based on the different types of alimony, how long and how much, uh, based on all of these, uh, percentages.

(13:58):
So really makes it easy in order to guide and help people. And then of course, just so everybody is clear, alimony is considered income. It’s non-taxable and non-tax deductible, but it is considered income. And so once we create alimony, then that will then be, uh, an adjustment to then create child support. Um, and so if there is an alimony award, it reduces child support because it increases income for the receiver and reduces net income for the payee. Um, so, um, those, those are the major changes when it comes to alimony in the state of Florida. Um, a lot of people were worried about a retroactive component, like, oh my gosh, I’ve got alimony. And so now with this new bill, with someone being able to retire, now they’re gonna come back, they’re gonna take away my money. Um, there is not a retroactive component. Um, it will be interesting to see going forward what the judiciary does, uh, with, you know, uh, needing to retire whatnot.

(15:09):
But keep in mind that, um, and I’ve got episodes on this where I had a special guest and we talked about permanent alimony at the time, and, and a lot of people trading, uh, equitable distribution for lifetime alimony. And they’re worried about, oh, I gave up assets in my divorce for lifetime alimony and now I’m gonna lose this too. Well, you know, there’s still contract law, contract law still exists and you can’t just ignore contract law in this context. And so, um, you know, it’s very important to get your legal advice. Um, if there is a potential modification that you may have been served with or you are thinking about doing, um, get some legal advice. Find out exactly how all of these little nuances will, uh, play in, um, because it is important that, uh, you know, the law in your state with your particular, um, with your particular case, uh, going forward.

(16:15):
Now, one last piece. There’s one last thing that was added, and this is it. This was added to the bill. This is now law. The court may consider it’s a, may, not a shall, but it’s a, may consider the adultery of either spouse and any resulting economic impact in determining the amount of alimony, if any, to be awarded. So it gives the court discretion on looking to extramarital affairs the adultery of either spouse that may result in an economic impact. And so, you know, I’ve never met anybody that actually had an affair and it actually improved a situation. There are times as a mediator where parties are coming into mediation to get divorced and they’re already engaged to somebody else living with someone else, um, having the affair, it does not make your divorce easier. It does not make any of this easier. And just know that as of July 1st, 2023, if you are going to step outside of your marriage and get divorced, that can be considered in an alimony case. So it’s best if you are going to get divorced, quit one before you start another. Otherwise, this can have an impact. And those are the changes in alimony in 2023 in the state of Florida.

Matthew Brickman:
Occasionally Sydney and I will be releasing Q & A bonus episodes where we will answer questions and give you a personal shout out.

Sydney Mitchell:
If you have a comment or question regarding anything that we discuss, email us at info@ichatmediation.com that’s info@ichatmediation.com and stay tuned to hear your shout out and have your question answered here on the show.

Matthew Brickman:

For more information about my services or to schedule your mediation with me, either in person or using my iChatMediation Virtual Platform built by Cisco Communications. Visit me online at www.iMediateInc.com. Call me at 561-262-9121, Toll-Free at 877-822-1479 or email me at MBrickman@iChatMediation.com.