No Changes to Alimony-Florida Legislature It's All Phony

With the recent deadlock that took place between the Florida House and Senate, resulting in a legislative session that did, essentially, nothing, I was reminded of a boyfriend I had in college at the University of Miami, who I met in, of all places, accounting class. When our Friday class ended and our weekend officially began, I would always suggest that we do our homework so that we'd have it out of the way. "But what if the world ends on Sunday? Then we'd have wasted our last weekend studying," he would always retort. For the past two months, every evening I'd say to myself, "time to write a blog about the two bills pending in the Florida House and Senate regarding alimony reform." Now, I was well aware of what each of these bills contained, and I had even discussed them with clients, and had done some preliminary calculations using the proposed formulas for calculating alimony. Alas, any insight this blog would have provided would all have been for naught. Yes folks, as you've likely already discovered, the House, running loggerheads with their brothers and sisters in the Senate, decided to just pick up their bats and balls and go home. (Remember, this is our state government and not Little League.) Thus, it seems pretty likely that any changes to the current Florida Alimony Statute will just have to wait until next year. Whew, do I feel better that I didn't impart any useless information on you this round. A side note, however, just today Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli told their minions that they are to return for a June session where, at the very least, they will attempt to pass a State budget...or face a state government shutdown (no court??) Clearly, there are a lot more important items that impact on many more residents of this state than alimony reform and the House and Senate need to do the jobs we elected them to do. Of course, my clients may disagree, but that's another story. I just sincerely hope that the special session next month doesn't mess up any of our legislators' vacation plans. As for next year, I hope the Senate understands that alimony and timesharing with children do not fit in the same bill. In the meantime, if you need assistance with current family law matters, please contact our office or visit our website to learn more about how we can assist you (under the current law!)http://www.vovalaw.com Law Office of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. 8551 West Sunrise Blvd., Suite 301 Plantation, FL 33322 954-316-3496