The Florida alimony reform bill passed the Florida legislature and was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on June 30, 2023.  This bill will have a significant impact on how alimony will be awarded in Florida.  It applies to all initial petitions for dissolution of marriage that are filed or pending on July 1, 2023, and to certain supplemental petitions for modification of alimony.  The following is a brief synopsis of how alimony will be awarded in Florida under this new legislation. First, the bill eliminates permanent alimony.  In its place, will be four types of alimony.&nb ..read more

Durational alimony is awarded to provide the recipient spouse with economic assistance for a specific period of time.  An award of durational alimony will not exceed 50% percent of the length of a short-term marriage, 60% percent of the length of a moderate-term marriage, and 75% of the length of a long-term marriage.  There is a rebuttable presumption that a marriage of less than 10 years is a short-term marriage, a marriage of between 10 years and 20 years is a moderate-term marriage, and a marriage of 20 years or more is a long-term marriage. Under “exceptional circumstance”, a co ..read more

Divorce proceedings in Florida often involve the division of businesses.  Courts typically effectuate the division of property and assets in a Florida divorce in such a manner as to allow the operating spouse to retain his or her ownership in the business.  Florida Courts will not require spouses to remain in business together when one or both spouses do not want to continue to do.  Courts will not award each spouse a one-half interest in a business and require them to continue to be business partners.  In a Florida divorce, courts will obtain a proper valuation of the busi ..read more

There are four types of alimony in Florida.  They are temporary alimony, bridge-the-gap alimony, rehabilitative alimony and durational alimony.  Trial courts may award one or any combination of these four types of alimony. In a recent case captioned Ogle v. Ogle, the Florida Court of Appeal described the purpose of these different types of alimony. Temporary alimony is a form of alimony payable during the time that an action for dissolution of marriage is pending. In determining whether and to what extent temporary alimony will be awarded, trial courts will consider the needs of the ..read more

In Florida, courts begin with the premise that the distribution of marital assets and liabilities will be equal.  Courts look at all of the following 10 factors to determine whether an unequal division of marital assets is appropriate: (i) whether one of the parties has made an extraordinary contribution to the marriage that is above and beyond the contribution that spouses ordinarily make to a marriage; (ii) whether the economic circumstances of the parties warrant an unequal distribution of marital assets; The post WHEN IS AN UNEQUAL DIVISION OF ASSETS AWARDED IN A FLORIDA DIVORCE? appe ..read more

In Florida, courts may award shared parental responsibility, sole parental responsibility and ultimate decision making authority.  Florida courts prefer to award shared parental decision making. Shared parental responsibility means that parents are required to attempt to confer and reach agreement on major issues that affect the welfare of their children. Major decisions include the children’s education, extra-curricular activities, healthcare, social and religious training and general welfare.  In the event that parents are unable to reach agreement on a major issue that affects th ..read more

A recently decided alimony case captioned Rodolph v. Rodolph involved two appeals by the husband.  Since both appeals involved the same parties and the same facts, the Florida Court of Appeal consolidated the cases into one appeal.  In Rodolph v. Rodolph, the husband appealed the lower court’s order denying his Supplemental Petition for Termination or Modification of Alimony.  Additionally, the Husband appealed the award of $39,000.00 in attorney’s fees to his wife. In this case, the husband and wife were married for 33 years.  At the time of the divorce, the Husband had be ..read more

Durational alimony terminates when either of the parties dies or the recipient of alimony remarries. In a unique case captioned Dills v. Perez the parties’ marital settlement agreement contained a provision that stated that the former husband’s obligation to pay durational alimony to the former wife was non-modifiable.  At the time that the parties got divorced, they entered into a marital settlement agreement that was incorporated into their final judgment of dissolution of marriage. The parties’ marital settlement agreement required the former husband to pay durational alimony to the fo ..read more

In Florida, pets are considered to be personal property.  In the event that a pet was owned by one of the parties prior to the marriage, that party will be entitled to keep the pet.  In the event that the pet was acquired by the parties during the course of the marriage, the pet will be distributed in accordance with Florida’s equitable distribution statute. In Florida, trial courts will not award custody and visitation of family dogs and cats.  The Florida Court of Appeal stated that while some states do award custody and visitation of family pets, Florida does not do so.  ..read more

In a recent child support case involving unmarried parents, the mother attempted to impute income to the father. The father lost his job as a commodity broker as a result of his misappropriation of funds.  The mother introduced a report from a vocational expert in an attempt to impute income to the father. In a case captioned, Damask v. Ryabchenko, the Florida Court of Appeal began by pointing out that Florida’s child support guideline presumptively set forth the amount that trial courts should award as child support in initial proceedings and modification proceedings.  The child sup ..read more