Florida lawmakers have attempted to reconfigure the alimony laws for many years. A newly revised law has been passed by the Florida legislature and now awaits the governor’s consideration. If the governor does sign the law, many Florida residents wonder about how the revised law will change child custody and asset division, among other issues.

If passed, the new law will set time and amount limits on alimony payments. The recipients will receive an amount of money that is based upon their income at the time of the divorce. Furthermore, payments will only be required for a time period that cannot exceed one-half of the time that the couple was married. Only one state, however, has passed legislation similar to Florida’s proposed law during the last few years.

Under the new law, judges, in most of the cases, will have to order the couple to share equal custody of the couple’s children. They would also have the ability to make amendments to existing alimony agreements. This could create problems, since sometimes one spouse has made concessions so that they could receive alimony payments over a longer period. Conversely, the spouse who requests alimony may have relinquished her or his rights to another asset, perhaps even a home, so that he or she could receive more alimony.

Another thing that has not been made clear is if it will permit any exceptions. If spouses want to create agreements about the length and amount of alimony payment when they negotiate asset division, will the law permit them? If a couple wants to extend or increase alimony payments because the paying spouse will receive the house without “buying out” the non-paying spouse as they negotiate during divorce mediation, will the law allow this arrangement? At the moment, no one knows if Florida’s governor will sign the legislation, or if he will return it to lawmakers for further consideration.  

Source: Fox Business, "Florida Bill Would Limit Spousal Support, Will the Trend Spread?" Kate Rogers, April 24, 2013