Joe Gruters is making minor adjustments to the regulation ending everlasting little one help forward of the Senate vote

After several changes Thursday night, the Senate is ready to vote on Sen. Joe Gruters controversial law abolishing life imprisonment.

This time after repeated unsuccessful attempts Passing similar support reform measures in recent years, the Sarasota Republican says of his bill (SB1796) is an improvement over previous efforts. The measure would overturn the court-ordered permanent alimony and leave bridging, rehabilitation and permanent alimony for all future divorces.

“Under the bill, Florida will join the vast majority of other states in eliminating permanent alimony and replacing it with permanent alimony,” Gruters said at the introduction of the bill. “This means that depending on the length of the marriage and the income differential between the parties, alimony payment will be more predictable than it is today – reducing the bitterness and litigation of divorce.”

Gruters made a few changes to the bill on Thursday, none of which changed the main purpose of the legislation.

A the change clarified that a person cannot apply for an equitable retirement before reaching the age of 65, a safeguard adopted by the Senate.

“We don’t want Tom Brady to retire at 42 and then stop paying alimony,” Gruters said.

Gruters also introduced a successful amendment to address another issue, framing it so that “if someone gives up assets in exchange for alimony, that spouse is protected and you can’t change your agreement,” he said.

Other the change Clarified the custody portion of the bill, provided a parent who lives more than 50 miles away must move to a home less than 50 miles away to be considered a material change of circumstances.

The Senate also passed a technical change from Gruters to avoid repetitive formulations in the invoice.

Democratic Senator from Boynton Beach Lori Berman also tried to change the law Thursday with an amendment that would remove the presumption of equal time divisions in custody battles, a piece of legislation that has been criticized by several lawmakers across the aisle.

“With this assumption, we are changing the law in the state of Florida. We know, as the Senate sponsor said, that there are other factors that will be considered, but when we create a legal presumption, we create a very large speed bump to get the court to consider other factors,” Berman said. “It is silent on the burden of proof required to overcome that presumption.”

The amendment failed, with Gruters defending the 50/50 presumption introduced by the bill.

“This bill simply states that when Mom and Dad went to court to set their time-share schedule, they entered on equal terms. You’re not allowed to walk out of court with an equal division of time,” he said. “It is ultimately up to the judge to determine which time-share plan is in the child’s best interest.”

Berman also questioned Gruters Thursday about the retroactivity of the legislation. The bill can be applied retrospectively to modifiable agreements, a measure that has drawn opposition from public commentators and lawmakers. However, the court cannot apply the draft law retrospectively to maintenance cases that are designated as non-changeable in the marriage contract.

“Will my new amendment not be governed by this new law as opposed to the existing law that was in effect when I made my original agreement?” she asked.

Gruters claimed the legislature’s attorneys concluded the bill was “not retroactive or unconstitutional.”

“The bill creates no right to change child support payments based on retirement. It just adds parameters to these existing modification rights. A party to an existing alimony claim knew or should have known that alimony words can generally be changed in the future,” he said.

Over the course of the committee’s hearings, opponents argued that cutting permanent maintenance would put those caring for children in a compromising position. Furthermore, they said the legislation aims only to help the main breadwinner and unfairly disadvantages the other person.

As in previous years, the bill met with opposition from several current child support recipients who feared the changes could alter their modifiable child support payments. Opponents also criticized the same timeshare presumption of the custody disputes bill.

The legislation would also remove the court’s ability to consider the adultery of either spouse when determining the amount of alimony.

An overhaul change submitted by Gruters and approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday night changed the legislation to provide the court with parameters to make determinations about the amount and duration of alimony payments.

The change would also allow alimony payers to reduce payments if they wish to retire, while protecting beneficiaries deemed vulnerable.

The amendment would require the debtor to file a notice of termination and intent to terminate maintenance with the court and recipient. If the payer continues to work and earn income despite reaching retirement age, alimony payments would continue until he or she actually retires and active income is reduced by 50% of pre-retirement levels under the amendment.

“We put all of these safeguards in the bill to make sure both parties are protected,” Gruters said of the change on Thursday.

However, this change was met with criticism. Family Law Attorney Shannon Novey, Officials from the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers said there was a regression in what was the progress of this year’s legislation. She said the pension scheme speaks for old agreements and “retroactively amends those agreements.”

Currently, long-term alimony is subject to change at the judge’s discretion. A 1992 Florida Supreme Court ruling determined that retirement is considered a change in circumstances that may modify maintenance.

Gruter’s bill died in the Senate Rules Committee last year. The House of Representatives voted 74 to 38 last year to pass the bill.

This year’s house version (HB1395), Worn by Fort Myers Republican Rep. Jenna Personen-Mulicka, has cleared its two committee stops and is awaiting its reading indoors. Both bills would go into effect in July.

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