Alimony – Fort Lauderdale Family & Divorce Attorneys

Alimony in Florida

Alimony in a divorce or dissolution case is based primarily on two important factors: need and an ability to pay. What does that mean? Well, Florida courts have the authority to grant alimony (spousal support) to either party in a divorce or dissolution. That alimony award can take many different forms and periods of time depending upon the unique circumstances in your case. The most common types of alimony are: temporary and durational. Temporary alimony is alimony that is paid during the pendency of your dissolution of marriage proceedings. Durational alimony, is alimony that is awarded for a specific duration of time. The duration of time that alimony can be awarded will depend upon the length of your marriage. Durational alimony cannot be awarded in marriages that last less than three years. Other forms of alimony the court can award are bridge-the-gap alimony (the duration of which cannot exceed 2 years) and rehabilitative alimony (the duration of which cannot exceed 5 years). However, before the court will award alimony to a requesting spouse, that spouse has to prove that they have a need for financial support in the form of alimony and that their spouse has the ability to pay financial support. The burden rests on the spouse seeking alimony to prove need and ability to pay. If the trial court makes the determination that the party seeking support has a need for alimony and that the other party has the ability to pay, then when determining the proper form of alimony, or any deviation from alimony, the court shall consider the following relevant factors:

Assuming that threshold is reached, there are several other statutory factors that a court can then consider in determining what, if anything, would be a fair alimony award.

Those factors include:

The duration of the marriage.
The standard of living established during the marriage and the anticipated needs and necessities of life for each party after the entry of the final judgment.
The age, physical, mental, and emotional condition of each party, including whether either party is physically or mentally disabled and the resulting impact on either the obliger’s ability to provide for his or her own needs or the obligor’s ability to pay alimony and whether such conditions are expected to be temporary or permanent.
The resources and income of each party, including the income generated from both nonmarital and marital assets.
The earning capacities, educational levels, vocational skills, and employability of the parties, including the ability of either party to obtain the necessary skills or education to become self-supporting or to contribute to his or her self-support prior to the termination of the support, maintenance, or alimony award.
The contribution of each party to the marriage, including, but not limited to, services rendered in homemaking, child care, education, and career building of the other party.
The responsibilities each party will have with regard to any minor children whom the parties have in common, with special consideration given to the need to care for a child with a mental or physical disability.
Any other factor necessary for equity and justice between the parties, which shall be specifically identified in the written findings of fact.

Fort Lauderdale Attorney Julie DiMaggio represents clients requiring assistance and advice in family law matters relating to alimony throughout the South Florida area including, but not limited to Sunrise, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Coral Gables, Miami, Miami Beach, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach and Delray Beach.

If you need to know whether an award of alimony is appropriate as you begin a divorce or dissolution of your partnership or marriage, are currently in the process of figuring out a fair alimony settlement, or if you are having problems or issues with a court-ordered alimony arrangement, DiMaggio Law Offices can help.

Alimony in Florida

Those factors include:

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