Florida Alimony Reform Update: Senate Bill 718 Passes April 4, 2013

Last week I summarized and provided some detail on Senate Bill 718, more commonly referred to as the alimony reform bill, including amendments passed on the second reading last week.

Well, what a surprise, late yesterday the Senate passed the bill, but did incorporate a few more amendments that assist prospective alimony recipients.

In a nutshell, the Senate raised the maximum amount of alimony that may be awarded, based on the payor’s gross income, as follows:

In Short Term Marriages (10 years or less): from 20% to 25%

In Mid Term Marriages (over 10 years but less than 20 years) from 30% to 35%

In Long Term Marriages (greater than 20 years) from 33% to 38%

Keep in mind, these percentages are the ceilings...not the floors, and the bill emphasizes courts considering bridge-the-gap alimony (maximum of 2 years, and rehabilitative alimony before contemplating duration alimony   .

And, the Senate added that Courts may award a maximum of 40% of the payor’s gross income when durational alimony is combined with rehabilitative alimony. Of course, we all know that a person who stayed home to raise a family for 18 years, hasn’t worked outside the home, and is now 48 or 50 years of age (or older), can just jump back into school and develop a career in a few years to adequately support one’s self through retirement.

This Bill still has to be signed into law by Governor Scott. In case you are opposed to these changes, you can sign an on line petition at  http://www.change.org/petitions/florida-governor-rick-scott-veto-sb-718-and-hb-231.

There’s still more crazy legislation pending to write about, as well as more on this bill coming up over the next week.