You tried to save your marriage for each other and for the children, but ultimately you learned that the best approach is to part ways.

As you file for dissolution of marriage, you can rest assured that you will know what both parties will be paying in child support, thanks to Florida’s codified guidelines that implement a formula.

Alimony will be pulled from that same set of resources held by the former couple. Accordingly, you might think that the same formulaic guidelines exist for alimony.

And you would be wrong.

Instead, judges simply use their own judgment when deciding on the number for an alimony award, and individual judges, while reasonable and competent, may not perceive the facts in the same manner nor come to the same numerical conclusions.

On Friday, June 24, 2022, the Governor DeSantis vetoed an alimony reform measure that passed through the legislature for a THIRD time. Former Governor Scott vetoed similar bills in 2013 and 2016.

This measure would have provided for alimony guidelines that are akin to the current child support formula already in place. The legislature has tried three times to wrangle the current “Wild West” of alimony awards for solid reasons:

• • • to create uniformity in the awards, given the former couple’s assets and income;
    • to protect both parties against the cost of unnecessarily lengthy litigation to determine the amount of alimony; and
    • to create predictable outcomes so that litigants know what to expect as they file for divorce.

The bill, if successful, would have provided for a payment system scaled to the length of the marriage instead of the current practice of allowing permanent alimony.  For example, “people married for less than three years would not have been eligible for alimony payments, and those who had been married 20 years or longer would have been eligible to receive payments for up to 75 percent of the terms of the marriage.”

The bill also “would have established a 50/50 presumption for time-sharing of a divorcing couple’s underage children; eliminated adultery as a consideration in alimony agreements; and set a financial floor for spouses losing permanent alimony to keep them from falling into poverty defined as 130 percent of the federal poverty threshold (around $18,000 per year for a single-person household, and around $43,000 for a family of five…).”

Other states have changed their alimony award frameworks to reflect societal changes wherein both men and women are earners. Proponents of the bill see such trends as an attempt to modernize divorce law. Apart from Florida, only six other states still have permanent alimony (New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Oregon).

Alimony reform in Florida has garnered passionate support and equally strong opposition.

The Family Law Section of The Florida Bar voiced opposition to the bill. Its major concern is that the measure would have had retroactive effects on already-existing alimony awards. If passed, the bill would have disturbed  thousands of marital settlements; consequently, courts would have faced a backlog of cases, a specific concern voiced by Family Law Section Chair-elect Philip Wartenberg and immediate past chairwoman, Heather Apicella.

However, proponents of the bill have “denied it would apply to preexisting alimony agreements,” yet Governor DeSantis vetoed the bill because it would “unconstitutionally impair vested rights under certain preexisting marital settlement agreements.”

Another group strongly opposed to alimony reform is the First Wives Advocacy Group, which wants to maintain permanent alimony as a means of protecting women, especially mothers with children. In particular, the group feared that alimony reform “threatened to impoverish older ex-spouses who have been homemakers and depend on the payments.”

In contrast, alimony-reform advocacy group, Florida Family Fairness (FFF), pushed for the bill as a “needed change to Florida’s outdated and destructive divorce process.” This group perceives alimony reform as a help to “both parties in a divorce to transition toward independence and self-sufficiency.” Florida Family Fairness believes that the bill took the first step toward “statewide uniformity, predictability and consistency that will encourage and facilitate settlements, which will help limit financial destruction by prolonged litigation in alimony cases.” In this group’s view, “The concept of permanent alimony is archaic and creates dependency and gamesmanship of the system.” Florida Family Fairness claims that, “Alimony payors should be allowed to retire and enjoy their golden years without perpetually supporting another capable adult.” The group reminds the public that women are increasingly alimony payors and therefore considers the bill to be gender-neutral.

What does this veto mean for you?

If you are divorced and concerned about your alimony (and/or child support payments), you can contact the DADvocacy™ Law Firm about a petition for a modification.

If you are married but you and your spouse are considering divorce, you may address your concern through a postnuptial (“postnup”) agreement. Please visit our dedicated website, JustPrenups.com, to schedule a consultation.

If you are considering marriage, don’t be afraid of these facts! Instead, choose to be prepared with a prenuptial agreement that helps to establish the terms of your marriage and of your divorce.  Learn about what prenups do and don’t do.

Warning: All posts on this website and its partner website, JustPrenups.com, contain general information about legal matters for broad educational purposes only. This information is not legal advice and should not be treated as such. This blog post does not create any attorney-client relationship between the reader and the DADvocacy™ Law Firm or between the reader and JustPrenups.com.