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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CAP NEWS/WCJB) — Efforts to reform Florida child support laws are progressing rapidly at the state Capitol. The legislation abolishes permanent alimony and establishes a formula based on the length of a marriage, and as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the legislation includes a clause that has bogged down reform efforts in the past.
Permanent alimony payments would end under the legislation. It would be replaced by a formula based on the length of a marriage.
For the first time, the Florida Bar’s Family Law Section supports the amendment.
Philip Wartenberg, chair-elect for family law, told the committee: “This is something the section has opposed in the past, but we believe it is time to move away from this concept of permanent maintenance.”
The most controversial provision states that custody issues begin with the assumption that the parents will divide time evenly.
“What would happen is you’re going to have a big hurdle, that guess, before you even get to the 20 factors,” Wartenberg says.
Before the bill was approved by the House Civil Justice Sub-Committee, sponsor Jenna Persons-Mulicka (R-Ft. Myers) said there was a target.
“To ensure that this leads to a better system that offers predictability. That gives security and fairness.”
Anna Eskamani voted no.
“If you have a fifty-fifty assumption, that can tie a judge’s hands.”
The sponsor twice refused to talk to us about the legislation.
What we would have asked is why the sponsor included the assumption that parents would share children equally. This has killed the bill in the past.
Florida NOW’s Barbara Devane told us that the threat of sharing children is often used as a bargaining chip.
“To get them to agree to something that isn’t in their financial and economic interests or those of the child,” says Devane.
The legislation also creates a way for the alimony payer to reduce the amount of alimony or stop it altogether when someone reaches retirement age.
Under current Florida law, a judge evaluates 17 to 20 factors to decide child custody. It would remain, but the fear is that it will take a backseat to the 50/50 split rule.
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