There is a new bill pending in the Florida legislature: Senate Bill 1796 (2022), which seeks to reform laws related to alimony and bifurcation of issues in a dissolution of marriage proceeding. Senate Bill 1796 is gender-neutral it is time to retire Floridas antiquated alimony laws to reflect our modern reality where trends show an increasing number of alimony payors are women. Rick Scott twice vetoed proposed alimony overhauls. Not all divorce proceedings are liable for alimony in Florida. The Legislature on Friday sent a contentious alimony bill to DeSantis, along with numerous other bills that passed during the legislative session that ended in March. and set up maximum payments based on the duration of marriage. All Rights Reserved. Learn more. If the recipient spouse did not contest the payors retirement notice within 20 days, the payors obligation to make durational alimony payments ceased. Edward Linsmier for The New York Times. Lawyers in that section of the Bar say pending divorce and child custody actions are stalled and piling up. Copyright 2022 WFSU. Judges would be allowed to extend the duration of alimony in those instances. Attempts to reform spousal support laws won't occur in 2021, but another attempt to eliminate the permanent support will likely happen in 2022. The truth is that SB 1796 improves upon Florida's unclear and outdated family laws that pits . To the Editor: This letter is in response to Ms. Chris Stanley's letter titled "Alimony Legislation an Attack on Senior Women in Florida.". The court will consider alimony if they deem it necessary. The duration of the alimony award would not have been longer than 50% percent of the length of a marriage that lasted 3 to 10 years, 60% of the length of a marriage that lasted 10 to 20 years, and 75% of the length of a marriage that lasted 20 years or more, unless the recipient was either permanently disabled, was unable to provide for the recipients support, or was a caregiver to a disabled child. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Most people think of alimony as splitting up all financial resources and the couples net income. The legislation abolishes . TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Lawmakers in Florida's House of Representatives approved a bill on Thursday that will revamp the state's alimony laws. You may be grandfathered into the tax treatment of the prior laws if your divorce was finalized in 2018 or earlier. In other words, it is a kind of financial support to maintain the standard of living of an ex-spouse during their marriage. In the event that the recipient spouse contested the payors retirement on the basis of the aforementioned five grounds, the trial court was required to then consider the following 5 factors in deciding whether to reduce or terminate the payors alimony obligation: (i) the length of the marriage; (ii) the financial resources of the recipient spouse; (iii) the recipient spouses sources of income; (iv) the sacrifice of time and leisure required of the payor to continue to provide alimony and the presumption that the payor had a right to retire upon reaching the full retirement age; (v) the health and age of the payor; (vi) the terms contained in the parties marital settlement agreement; and (vii) whether the parties agreed to an extended term of alimony or to permanent alimony in exchange for the payor retaining significant marital assets. Gov. Send letters to the editor (up to 200 words) or Your Turn columns (about 500 words) to letters@tallahassee.com. If the court cant get enough relevant evidence to support a form of alimony payment, the court may deny the requesting party from receiving alimony from their ex-spouse. This year is the third time the Legislature has passed alimony overhauls, with former Gov. He currently practices in the Orlando/Central Florida region, and consults and handles cases statewide. Read: Congress passes bipartisan gun control bill, community speaks out. A married couple still has a legal duty to help each other financially. The change of circumstance usually involves anything considered permanent and involuntary, including unexpected events like illness and disability. We are asking everyone to donate one month of alimony in order to fully fund this effort. Florida Family Fairness supports legislation that represents the modern family unit and encourages independence and self-sufficiency for both parties. Scott, A bill that makes changes to the state's alimony rules is on its way to the governor's desk. On behalf of thousands who have been exposed to Floridas family courts, Florida Family Fairness is urging Gov. Modification Of Child Custody & Visitation. Gov. Published: Jan. 27, 2022 at 4:06 PM PST. Florida Alimony Reform 2021 is back in the news as the Legislature once again takes up how alimony and child sharing are handled in family law courtrooms. Marc D. Johnson is the Chairman of Florida Family Fairness, an organization that is supporting and advocating for legislation that will bring families together by modernizing alimony laws to create fair, uniform, and consistent standards for judgments across the state. News Service of Florida; Published Mar. For the third time in a decade, an alimony reform bill is headed to the Florida governor's desk, and lobbyists and advocates for both sides will do all they can to sway Governor Ron DeSantis to their side.. At the heart of the controversy: the retroactive nature of the bill, which will fundamentally alter the legal landscape for thousands of Floridians currently living under a modifiable . As a result of the Governor's veto, there are now four types of alimony in Florida. This bill also protects children and allows both parties to retire with dignity, while giving the courts discretion to protect vulnerable alimony recipients.". Creates an equal-timesharing presumption that puts both parents on equal footing when they start the divorce process, while still providing the judicial discretion for the Court to utilize the twenty (20) factors in current law to always do what is in the best interests of the child. This can sometimes make it hard for the receiving spouse to collect the agreed alimony amount. No nest egg. Changes to alimony applicable to any final judgment entered on or after July 1, 2022 include: Permanent (lifetime) alimony is eliminated, leaving bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational forms of alimony. Rick Scott twice vetoed such legislation, with a standoff over the issue leading to a near-fracas outside Scotts office in 2016. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CAP NEWS/WCJB ) - Efforts to reform Florida's alimony laws are moving quickly in the state Capitol. This Florida alimony calculator makes estimated Florida maintenance calculations. Ron DeSantis faces a decision about whether to approve revamping the states alimony laws. They are predictably blocking this reform because they are proverbial foxes guarding the henhouse, acting as the self-appointed protectors of vulnerable women and children. 18, 2022 | Updated Apr. Slosberg-King, also a lawyer, noted that there shouldnt be a 50-50 presumption in situations when one parent is a drug addict and the other is not. Acting on one of the most emotionally charged issues of the 2022 legislative session, Gov. Lifetime alimony can occur if the marriage lasted longer than 17 years. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Efforts to reform Florida's alimony laws are moving quickly in the state Capitol. In the event that the payor continued to work and earn active gross income that exceeded 50% of the payors average active gross income for the 3 years preceding his or her retirement age, alimony would have been extended until the payors periodic alimony obligation ceased or until the obligor retired and reduced his or her active gross income below 50% of the payors average active gross income for the 3 years preceding his or her retirement age. Fourth, at the present time, a payor can be ordered to purchase life insurance to secure an award of alimony. Guidelines and predictability reduce litigation and that reduces billable hours. Ex-spouses who pay would have to give one years notice indicating they intend to retire and could stop payments upon retirement, except under certain circumstances. Ron DeSantis faces a decision about whether to approve revamping the states alimony laws. Read: Florida court set to consider blocking 15-week abortion ban Monday. Theres no standard formula to determine how much potential alimony an ex-spouse would get when dealing with this in Florida. The major components of Senate Bill 1796 are fundamentally the same as what was in previous reform efforts. Liked by Lisa Patten If youre currently going through the process of creating an alimony agreement, understand that you can still file for alimony modification if there are major changes in either persons financial situation since the time alimony was agreed upon. The Legislature has cleared a. Short-term marriages that involve alimony are quite rare. DeSantis chose divorce lawyers over Floridas families and parents who love their children and who want to be a part of their lives, Marc Johnson, a Tampa lawyer who is president of the pro-overhaul group Florida Family Fairness, said in a prepared statement. Critics argued the plan could impoverish ex-spouses who have been homemakers and are dependent on the payments. April 15, 2022 To the Editor: The First Wives Advocacy Group is urging Gov. I, 10, Fla. Const.. What is wrong with two people being equal in the eyes of the law when they walk into court for the first time? The staff attorneys in the House and Senate authored independent opinions that the bill is not retroactive. Durational alimony heavily depends on the number of years the involved parties were together. But Rep. Emily Slosberg-King, D-Boca Raton, argued that judges currently are supposed to consider the needs and interests of a child when determining a parenting plan. Divorce is difficult, but it is even more difficult when there are vague and archaic laws that benefit divorce attorneys, deplete hard-earned marital assets, and leave families as the victims. Now theyre being reduced to poverty. WUSF 89.7 depends on donors for the funding it takes to provide you the most trusted source of news and information here in town, across our state, and around the world. To educate Legislators & Public about the need for change in our family courts and. It provides guidelines for the courts when considering retirement, while protecting vulnerable recipients and those with unmet needs for necessities of life. Under the bill, alimony recipients who have incomes up to 130 percent of the federal poverty level without alimony, are full-time caregivers of mentally or physically disabled children or who are unable to care for themselves would be able to file objections to the retirement notices. 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