By: Daniel M. Copeland, Attorney at Law, P.A.

A great number of Florida residents and lawmakers think that it is time for an overhaul of Florida’s alimony laws. Many legislators have introduced bills to address the issue. There are, of course, good arguments on both sides of the debate. To avoid any confusion, Florida couples who are in the process of obtaining a divorce may want to enter into divorce mediation to ensure that their alimony agreement is equitable.

Currently, Florida law mandates that alimony payments be permanent. Only the remarriage or the death of the spouse who receives the alimony payments can discontinue them. Furthermore, if the paying party becomes married again, the new spouse’s income also may count as income during any modification of the original alimony agreement. Because the alimony recipient benefits in almost every one of these cases, many Florida residents view these laws to be biased in favor of the alimony recipient.

Proposed reform will strip these two provisions out of the law. New proposals also suggest that a formula which resembles the one that calculates child support—a formula that considers the income from both spouses—be used to calculate alimony. The proposal will also grant to judges the freedom to override the law, provided that they state on the record their reasoning why they believe that an override is necessary.

No matter how Florida’s legislature comes down on the alimony issue, divorcing Florida couples will need to tackle the issue of alimony. Courts, though, will generally agree to the terms of a mutually-arrived upon settlement, provided the terms are fair to both spouses. If the parties can set their differences aside and work as a team to find a settlement that is fair and agreeable to both, a divorce mediator may be able to help them work toward an equitable settlement.

Source: wfsu.org, "Proposed Alimony Overhaul Pits Reformers Against Divorce Lawyers," Jessica Palombo, Dec. 7, 2012