On September 10, 2015, Florida Senator Tom Lee filed an alimony reform bill with the legislature for its consideration during the 2016 legislative session, which begins in January 2016. The bill, as filed, is largely identical to the alimony reform bill that Senator Lee filed before the 2015 legislative session. The 2015 bill never made it out of the legislature because it differed from the House bill on the same issue, and the legislature was unable to reconcile the differences in the two bills before the session ended after arguments over the state budget dominated the legislature’s time. It is expected that this time the legislature will fully consider alimony reform and pass a bill for the Governor’s signature. So far the Governor has not indicated any opposition to the bill, so it is not expected that a veto will be made when a bill is presented for signature.
If this bill becomes law, permanent alimony will be eliminated in Florida. It will be replaced with guidelines that will establish the length of time alimony is to be paid, and the amount of alimony that will be ordered. Long-term marriages (20 years or more) will be capped at the lesser of 75% of the length of the marriage or 25 years. The guidelines will establish a high-low range for duration and amount of alimony in all marriages, within which range a judge could order in a divorce. There will be no alimony, except in rare, exceptional, circumstances for marriages of less than 2 years. Also, future modification of alimony will be defined more specifically than it is currently. The new law, under certain circumstances, will be able to be used to modify existing alimony awards. Retirement will presumptively be a ground for modification or termination.
In the past there has been opposition to specific language presented in both the Senate Bill and the House equivalent. Last year, though, the House bill had the support of the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar; it is likely that a version of alimony reform will have similar support this year. Here is hoping that the legislature will put a reform bill on the Governor’s desk for signature to end decades of outrageous alimony awards.