Will alimony be a prime consideration in your Florida divorce?
The answer to that question is: perhaps.
We spotlighted alimony (often also termed spousal maintenance or spousal support in Florida) in a recent post. We stressed in
our June 1 entry that, while a spousal support award “does not feature in every divorce,” it commonly does “when one spouse is economically disadvantaged compared with the other.”
And that is the case with a lot of marriages, isn’t it? Alimony serves in such cases as an adjustment tool. It seeks
to remedy material disparity in the wealth/income of two individuals entering post-divorce life.
A judge will closely oversee and issue rulings concerning an alimony matter in Florida. An ultimate determination can be greatly influenced, though, by timely and knowledgeable help from a proven legal team.
Florida alimony: several types that are potentially relevant
A threshold consideration regarding spousal support will focus on its duration. Some awards are temporary in nature, their rationale being to reasonably support one spouse until a divorce decree issues.
Others are deemed permanent. A permanent award will generally feature only in longer-term marriages, lasting until either ex-spouse dies or the recipient remarries.
In addition to a temporary or permanent determination, other types of alimony might also come into play, being wholly dependent on the specific facts that emerge in a given divorce. Florida law provides for the following:
Durational (typically paid monthly for a stated period not exceeding the length of a marriage)
Rehabilitative (provided for a limited period and with specific relevance for a spouse seeking to secure job-linked training/education)
Bridge the gap (again, of finite duration, being applicable to a short-term period between marriage and once again being single)
What factors are relevant in an alimony determination?
Florida statutory law spotlights 10 key factors for a court to primarily focus upon in making an alimony determination. A family law legal team with proven acumen can often provide input concerning those elements that materially benefits a client. The factors centrally include judicial focus on these matters:
Marriage duration
Accustomed standard of living during marriage
Assets available to each party
Post-divorce earning capacity of each party
Health of both parties
Child-centric concerns (e.g., custody and support)
Other factors, too, can come into play. Notably, a court can take any action beyond its stated statutory dictates that it feels is necessary to secure a fair alimony result. Again, focused and knowledgeable legal counsel can often provide persuasive evidence in that regard.
Alimony can seem relatively simple and quite complex at the same time. Questions or concerns regarding this often important family law tool can be addressed to an experienced and client-empathetic family law firm.
