Potential Broad Changes to Florida Alimony Legislation

Potential Broad Changes to Florida Alimony and Time-Sharing Legislation

Two bills being proposed in this year’s state legislative session may have significant effects on alimony awards and child timesharing plans of divorcing couples. The bills, HB 1559 and SB 1922, are the latest iteration of similar bills that have been introduced and failed to pass numerous times since 2010[1]. This time though, the bills have more support within the legislature.

Alimony Awards

Divorcing couples in Florida who have alimony agreements currently have one of the following types of alimony:

• Temporary Alimony: provides funds to support a spouse during the dissolution of marriage procedures. Ends once the divorce is final[2].
• Bridge-the-Gap-Alimony: provides assistance as an ex-spouse transitions from married to single life. Cannot exceed two years[3].
• Rehabilitative Alimony: provides for education or training of an ex-spouse to gain necessary employment skills. Duration can vary based on the specific education and/or training plan[4].
• Durational Alimony: provides for economic assistance for a specified period of time, which cannot exceed the duration of the marriage[5].
• Permanent Alimony: provides for the economic needs of an ex-spouse in perpetuity[6].

Under the new legislation, permanent alimony will be prohibited unless both parties agree to it[7] . Moreover, bridge-the-gap alimony will be prioritized, followed by rehabilitative alimony[8].

If you are the primary or higher-earning breadwinner, these laws will benefit you, since you will have a much lower alimony obligation than under the current laws.

If you left the workforce or took a lower paying career path to care for your family, these laws will limit the amount of alimony that you are eligible to receive. It will be more important than ever that you work with an experienced family law firm to ensure that you receive your fair share of marital assets during your divorce.

Child Time-Sharing

Both new bills have a provision that the courts should use an equal time-sharing plan for minor children as the default time-sharing (custody) agreement[9]. This mean that each parent will be allowed to spend 50 percent of the time with their minor children. Sometimes, this approach works well for all parties involved. However, there are many situations when a 50/50 time-sharing arrangement is not in the best interests of a minor child. An equal time-sharing arrangement can also impact the amount of child support that you receive.

If signed into law, these bills will go into effect on July 1 of this year. If you are contemplating a divorce, contact the knowledgeable family law attorneys at Troy Legal right away to learn how this proposed legislation may impact you.

About Troy Legal

Troy Legal, P.A. was founded in 2009 and serves clients throughout South Florida. Troy Legal, P.A., specializes in Marital and Family Law, providing reputable legal services for prenuptial and co-habitation agreements, paternity cases, adoption matters, alimony and child support, time sharing and parenting plans, drafting of qualified domestic relations orders (qdros), mediation services, equitable distributions, collaborative law, post-judgement modification and enforcement, domestic violence cases, and dissolution of marriage or divorce.  Troy Legal, P.A. is dedicated to serving clients through compassionate and aggressive representation, while upholding the highest degree of ethical standards.

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[1] The Florida Bar. Alimony back on lawmakers’ agenda – The Florida Bar. Accessed March 29, 2021.

[2]The Florida Senate. h1559.CIV.PDF (flsenate.gov). Page 5. Accessed March 29, 2021.

[3]The Florida Senate. h1559.CIV.PDF (flsenate.gov). Page 5. Accessed March 29, 2021.

[4] The Florida Senate. h1559.CIV.PDF (flsenate.gov). Page 5. Accessed March 29, 2021.

[5] The Florida Senate. h1559.CIV.PDF (flsenate.gov). Page 5. Accessed March 29, 2021.

[6] The Florida Senate. h1559.CIV.PDF (flsenate.gov) Page 5. Accessed March 29, 2021.

[7] The Florida Senate. PDF (flsenate.gov). Page 5, line 123. Accessed March 29, 2021

[8] The Florida Senate. https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/1922/BillText/Filed/HTML. Lines 144-147. Accessed March 29, 2021 and PDF (flsenate.gov). Lines 120-122. Accessed march 29, 2021.

[9] The Florida Senate. h1559.CIV.PDF (flsenate.gov). Page 13. Accessed March 29, 2021.