It took four attempts and nearly ten years, but now Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill to reform the state's child support laws and eliminate permanent child support.
DeSantis' approval came a year after he vetoed a similar bill and after former Governor Rick Scott vetoed similar bills twice.
Critics have argued that the law will impoverish older ex-spouses who were housewives and have to live on alimony. Supporters of the law say it creates clarity and prevents ex-spouses from having to work long after they retire because they will still have to pay alimony.
What is permanent maintenance?
When a marriage ends, the court may order a former spouse to make financial payments, called alimony, to the other spouse. Originally, these payments were solely for child support, and when men were the primary breadwinners, they were intended to help former wives support themselves after a divorce. As no-fault divorces became popular, alimony remained a right but became conditional.
Florida law previously recognized four types of alimony that a court could award:
- Bridging maintenance: Payments intended to help the former spouse on whom the alimony depends to become self-sufficient and financially independent again. Bridge maintenance is intended to help a party with legitimate, identifiable short-term needs and cannot exceed two years.
- Maintenance payments for reintegration: Payments made under a specified plan to help the former spouse learn or regain the skills or qualifications needed to find work or to gain the necessary work experience.
- Temporary maintenance: Payments for a fixed period after a “marriage of short or medium duration” or after a long marriage, depending on the decision of the court, if there is no permanent need for maintenance.
- Permanent maintenance: Payments for the entire lifetime of the former spouse, generally after a long marriage or, in exceptional circumstances, also after a short or medium-length marriage.
What does Florida's new child support reform law do?
CS/SB 1416 (divorce) excludes the possibility of permanent alimony payments.
The bill also provides for the possibility of lump sum payments, increases the burden of proof of entitlement to maintenance on the person who needs it, and establishes a process by which former spouses who pay maintenance can request modifications when they retire or circumstances change. It will allow judges to reduce or stop alimony, support or maintenance payments after considering a number of factors, such as:
- “The age and health” of the person making payments
- The usual retirement age for this person’s occupation
- “The economic impact” that a reduction in maintenance payments would have on the recipient of the payments
- Adultery of one of the spouses and the resulting economic consequences
- The payer’s “motivation for retirement and likelihood of returning to work”.
- The existence of a “supportive relationship” between the former spouse receiving payments and another, unrelated party. The burden of proof on the former spouse making payments that a supportive relationship exists has been removed.
The bill also provides that tax consequences and sources of income such as “investments of any assets” will no longer be covered by the court decision.
Does Florida's new alimony law affect temporary alimony?
Yes.
The new law redefines the duration of marriage: a short-term marriage is now defined as one that lasts less than 10 years (previously 7 years). A medium-term marriage lasts between 10 and 20 years (previously 7-17). And a long-term marriage, previously defined as 17 years or more, now lasts 20 years or more. The changes to temporary maintenance include:
- People who have been married for less than three years are no longer entitled to temporary alimony in Florida.
- Unless there are exceptional circumstances, temporary maintenance may not last longer than 50% of the duration of a short-term marriage, 60% of the duration of a medium-term marriage and 75% of the duration of a long-term marriage.
- The amount and duration of maintenance must be determined by various factors, including the age and employability of the former spouse.
- The amount shall be what the court determines to be reasonable needs or an amount not exceeding 35% of the difference between the net incomes of both spouses (whichever is lower).
- The need to maintain the quality of life built up during the marriage has disappeared.
Does Florida's new child support law affect rehabilitation support?
Yes. The right to rehabilitation support is now limited to five years and can be terminated if the former spouse implements the specific, established plan early. There was already a law in Florida that allowed the right to rehabilitation support to be terminated early if the former spouse did not implement the plan.
Does Florida's new child support law affect child support?
The child support section has been left largely unchanged, but now if a divorced parent of a child who lived more than 50 miles apart at the time the time-sharing order was entered moves within 50 miles, this will be considered a “material and substantial change in circumstances for purposes of modifying the time-sharing schedule,” provided the court determines that a change is in the best interests of the child.
When does Florida's new child support law take effect?
As of July 1, 2023.
Does Florida's new alimony law affect existing alimony payments?
When DeSantis rejected the last attempt, this was one of his concerns.
“If CS/CS/SB 1796 becomes law and is given retroactive effect as the Legislature intended, it would unconstitutionally impair existing rights under certain pre-existing divorce agreements,” the governor wrote in his veto letter.
In emotional testimony from former spouses who appeared before legislative committees to speak out against the bill, many said they had agreed to give up assets in exchange for permanent alimony payments when they divorced and would now lose that guaranteed income when they needed it most.
Republican Senator Joe Gruters of Sarasota, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, told a Senate committee in April that the non-amendable child support plan bill would not have retroactive effect.
“So what you can do now is, according to case law, codify all of these laws and make them the law. So we're basically just solidifying that,” Gruter said. “From a retroactive standpoint, no, because if something was previously amendable, it's still amendable. If it's a non-amendable agreement, you still can't change that agreement.”
However, plans that could be changed before the change are now subject to the new laws.
“He (DeSantis) just impoverished all of Florida's older women, and I know at least 3,000 women across the state of Florida are switching to the Democrats, and we will campaign against him forever and ever,” Camille Fiveash, a Milton Republican who receives permanent alimony, told the News Service of Florida on Friday.
The information comes from a News Service report by Dara Kim from Florida.
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