The most significant change to Florida alimony law in decades took effect for cases pending or filed on or after July 1, 2023. Permanent alimony was eliminated. Four categories remain: temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational.
Durational alimony is now capped by statute. In marriages of three to ten years, alimony cannot exceed fifty percent of the length of the marriage. In marriages of ten to twenty years, sixty percent. In marriages of twenty years or longer, seventy-five percent. The amount is capped at the lesser of reasonable need or thirty-five percent of the difference between the parties’ net incomes.
Retirement of the paying spouse is now an explicit basis for modification or termination — a substantial change from prior law.
Anyone with an existing alimony order, or anyone facing a new divorce in Florida, should understand the current statute before negotiating.
Allyson Hughes — Board Certified Marital and Family Law, AAML Fellow,