Tag: Alimony

Florida Alimony Reform: R.I.P.

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Alimony reform in Florida will have to wait. With 35 days left in the Legislative session, the bills are not getting a hearing in either the House or the Senate, meaning the alimony reform bills will likely die in committee.

Florida Alimony

In Florida, alimony is awarded to a spouse when there is a need for it, and the other spouse has the ability to pay for alimony. Alimony can take various forms.

For example, alimony can be awarded to “bridge the gap” between married and single life. This is usually a short term form of alimony, and in fact, can’t exceed two years.

Alimony can also be rehabilitative – to help a party in establishing the capacity for self-support by developing skills or credentials; or acquiring education, training, or work experience. The underlying goal is to get you into a position where you can take care of expenses without assistance.

Durational Alimony is awarded when permanent periodic alimony is inappropriate. The purpose of durational alimony is to provide you with economic assistance for a time after a short or moderate term marriage, or even long marriages, if there is no ongoing need for support on a permanent basis.

Permanent Alimony is awarded to provide for your needs and necessities of life as they were established during your marriage, if you lack the financial ability to meet your needs and necessities of life following a divorce. However, a court has to find that there is no other form of alimony that would be fair and reasonable.

Although people often think of alimony as paid on a monthly basis, it can be awarded in a lump sum or be a combination of the two. In making a determination of whether or not to award alimony, the court may consider non-monetary factors.

Alimony Reform

Alimony reform is a nationwide phenomenon. A few states have already limited alimony, especially in cases where the marriage is less than 20 years.

Florida is not alone in moving for alimony reform. Currently, there are two bills in Florida trying to be passed to amend our alimony statute. However, many state bills, like Florida’s, are in progress, or are constantly evolving.

Unlike child support, which is common when a divorcing couple has kids, alimony awards have always been very rare, going from about 25% of cases in the 1960s to about 10% today. In one study of Wisconsin cases, it was only 8.6%.

Florida’s Alimony Reform Bill

This year’s bills would have provided judges with a set of guidelines for calculating alimony, and would also have provided judges and lawyers reasons to deviate from the proposed alimony guidelines in special cases.

I wrote about the failure of the alimony reform bills before. First, in 2015, when the Florida House of Representatives made a surprising end of their session, killing all bills.

Last year, Governor Scott vetoed a similar bill, but last year’s bill had a major difference. Last year’s bill added a provision that made equal timesharing a presumption in every case. Because of the equal timesharing presumption, the governor vetoed last year’s bill.

Withering on the Vine

For people who oppose alimony reform, there is good news: the bills are dead for the year. Sen. Kathleen Passidomo, the Naples Republican who’s carrying the Senate version (SB 412), this week said the chair of its first committee of reference refused to hear the alimony bill.

“Chairman Garcia determined that he was not interested in hearing it and I respect that decision,” Passidomo said. “I don’t think leadership weighed in on it.”

Sen. Passidomo also noted that the House version of the bill (HB 283), sponsored by Lakeland Republican state Rep. Colleen Burton, has also not gotten a hearing. Given that the House subcommittees are wrapping up work this week, that virtually dooms the legislation there.

The Florida Politics article is available here.

 

Alimony & Short Marriages

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Married at First Sight’s Sonia Granados and Nick Pendergrast are filing for divorce “after almost a year of marriage.” The length of your marriage may impact the amount and length of alimony.

Married at First Sight

According to US Magazine, the could reports:

“We are sad to share that after almost a year of marriage we have decided to separate and file for divorce. Thank you in advance for your love and support through this difficult time! We look forward to growing and continuing to learn about ourselves from what we still consider to be a meaningful experience with MAFS.”

Florida Alimony

Alimony is governed in Florida by a statute. The alimony statute requires judges to consider several factors, including the duration of the marriage.

For purposes of determining alimony, there is a rebuttable presumption that a short-term marriage is a marriage having a duration of less than 7 years.

Florida Alimony Reform

However, Florida has been struggling in an alimony reform battle for years. I have been reporting on the alimony reform movement for years. This year, the Legislature is considering a bill that sets out a formula for judges to use when deciding alimony payments.

The House Alimony Bill, which would take effect October 1st if passed, would set guidelines for judges to set alimony based on the duration of marriages and the incomes of the parties. If a judge deviates from the guidelines they would have to explain why in writing.

The bill replaces permanent alimony with new formulas based on the length of the marriage, and the spouses’ incomes. Those formulas help set the amount and duration of the payments.

Also, the alimony reform bill re-defines marriages for purposes of alimony. Marriage would be divided into “low end” and “high end” marriages based on the length of the marriage.

Under the proposed alimony reform bill, in marriages of 2 years or less, there is a rebuttable presumption that no alimony shall be awarded.

For purposes of calculating the presumptive alimony amount range, 20 years of marriage or less shall be used in calculating the low end and high end for marriages of 20 years or more.

Short Marriages & Alimony

The former stars of Married at first Sight, Granados and Pendergrast were married for less than 1 year, and under the alimony reform bill would not be entitled to alimony.

The pair met on season 4 of the television series, and struggled early on in their relationship. Granados was scared of dogs (he owned one), and felt that he wasn’t physically attracted to her and that he lacked emotion.

The US Magazine article is here.

Job Lock: Modifying Alimony to Pursue a New Job

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By The Law Offices of Ronald H. Kauffman of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Tuesday, May 12, 2015.

People who pay alimony can be prevented from changing jobs if the change means a lower salary. The court won’t stop you from changing jobs, but it won’t modify your alimony obligation downward. This means you could be locked into your job.

Prof. Margaret Ryznar, from the University of Indiana, published a research paper on the “job lock” effect of alimony. Professor Ryznar’s paper comes at a good time, as I’ve been writing about alimony a lot while Florida debates alimony reform.

Although Florida alimony reform failed again in 2015, alimony laws have been under attack in Florida for years. Alimony laws used to be generous, including permanent support. These days, only Florida and a few states continue to allow lifelong, permanent alimony.

Maybe one reason for the rise of alimony reform is the increasingly negative view people have of alimony. Clients view alimony as an inflexible and ironclad financial obligation, one that does not allow for nuance in individual cases.

Florida allows any party to modify alimony, whether alimony was agreed to in a marital settlement agreement, or ordered by the court, if the circumstances or the financial ability of either party changes.

However, the change in circumstances must have occurred after the order awarding alimony. Additionally, a modification of alimony requires proving a change in circumstances. If so, a modification in Florida depends on the type and the purpose of the alimony award.

Where a substantial change in circumstances is your reason for modifying alimony, you must show the substantial change in circumstances was not contemplated at the time of the order, and that the change is sufficient, material, involuntary and permanent in nature.

There are many reasons for alimony modification. A court may reduce or terminate alimony if a spouse has entered into a supportive relationship with a person with whom he or she resides. Also, the unemployment and retirement of the paying spouse are valid reasons.

Because courts are likely to be unwilling to modify alimony based on a change of job to a lower salary, the professor’s new research paper proposes a new test that balances the interests of the alimony recipient with those of the payor.

For example, is the change in job designed to avoid paying alimony, or an investment in the future, or is it due to a change in circumstances? If someone takes a pay cut to become mayor or a judge, should their dream job be prevented due to an alimony obligation?

A balancing test made for each case may be what is needed to protect families who rely on support, and release a possible job lock effect of an alimony award. The research paper is available here.

Florida Alimony Reform

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On behalf of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Wednesday, March 20, 2013.

alimony is up for debate again in Florida. This year though, the reforms are HUGE. The Florida Senate Bill is 718 and the Florida House bill is 231, and they are being debated in Tallahassee right now. You can read the Senate bill here. Some of the items in the new bills which are creating a stir are:

Factors for awarding alimony

  • The bill deletes the standard of living enjoyed during a marriage factor.
  • There would be a new presumption that both parties will have a reduced standard of living.
  • Courts must impute income to an unemployed spouse.

Amends Presumptions

  • The bill adds 3 years to each category of marriage (short, moderate and long).
  • There would be a presumption against alimony for short-term marriages.

Amends Alimony Types

  • Permanent periodic alimony is eliminated.
  • Alimony types would be prioritized, so that bridge-the-gap is considered first, then rehabilitative, lastly, durational alimony.
  • A court couldn’t award alimony for more than half the length of the marriage without clear and convincing evidence.
  • The bill limits the cases in which a court could award combinations of alimony.

Modifies Alimony Modifications

  • The retirement of the paying spouse would become a substantial change in circumstances.
  • Alimony would automatically terminate at normal retirement age.
  • Alimony must be reduced or terminated if the payee spouse is in a supportive relationship.
  • The new law would apply to all orders entered before the bill became law, so the bill itself would be grounds for modifying or terminating alimony.

Timesharing

  • The bill would create a presumption in favor of equal time-sharing.

While some people support the Bills, some people hate it. The Family Law Section of the Florida Bar, for instance, is voicing strong opposition to this legislation, and pointing out some little-understood facts about alimony.

  • Florida courts do not routinely award permanent alimony.
  • Florida courts can ONLY award permanent alimony after making findings of fact that no other form of alimony is fair and reasonable.
  • Permanent alimony awards are almost always in long-term marriages.
  • Permanent alimony is always modifiable.
  • Florida courts cannot order permanent non-modifiable alimony.

Stay tuned.

More Women Are Paying Alimony

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On behalf of Ronald H. Kauffman, P.A. posted in Alimony on Thursday, July 12, 2012.

The tables are turning on alimony and child support. As more women climb higher up the career ladder, and outpace their husbands in salary and title, they are finding that they are the ones having to support their ex-spouses after the divorce.

Many women are finding that breaking through the glass ceiling comes with financial responsibilities. Just as many of my male clients grumble about paying alimony to their former wives, more and more of my female clients arrive at our consultations worried about having to support their soon-to-be former husbands.

Whether you are concerned about your ability to pay, or interested in knowing whether your needs justify receiving support, you should know that Florida’s alimony statute has recently (and dramatically) changed. Everyone is concerned about the recent changes to the law, and the looming threats to amend the statute in upcoming legislative sessions in the years to come.

Reuters reports:

“As women climb higher up the career ladder and outpace their exes in salary, when love goes wrong and marriages break up they are being compelled to contribute to the livelihood of their former spouses.

More than half, 56 percent, of divorce lawyers across the United States have seen an increase in mothers paying child support in the last three years and 47 percent have noted a hike in the number of women paying alimony, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.”