USA – FLORIDA Law and Practice Contributed by: Elisha D. Roy and Carolyn Ware, Sasser, Cestero & Roy
• Bridge-the-Gap Alimony: This is ordered to aid one party as they transition from married to single life. There must be evidence of a legitimate and identifi ‑ able short-term need. Bridge-the-Gap alimony may not be modified in duration or amount, and it may not exceed a period of two years. This is generally seen in only very short-term marriages. • Rehabilitative Alimony: This is to assist the other party in the redevelopment of previous skills or to acquire the necessary education or training for skills or credentials necessary for employment so the person can become self-supporting. This type of alimony cannot exceed five years and can be modified or terminated if the person has not complied with the plan for rehabilitation, if the person has completed the rehabilitative plan, or if there is a substantial change in circumstances. For example, if a spouse has a specific plan to finish required courses to obtain an incomplete degree, they may be eligible for an award of rehabilita ‑ tive alimony. This is generally awarded when one spouse abandoned a career in lieu of child-rearing and/or other aspects of a marital relationship and needs re-education or new education to become employable and capable of self-support. It can also be used as a creative defence to an alimony request, providing a plan for the spouse seeking alimony to be able to rehabilitate themselves. A rehabilitative plan of alimony cannot exceed five years. • Durational Alimony: This was codified in 2010 and significantly amended in 2023. It may not be awarded in marriages of less than three years. An award of durational alimony may not exceed 50% the length of a short-term marriage, 60% the length of a moderate-term marriage, or 75% the length of a long-term marriage. The court is not required to award the full length. These guidelines are maxi ‑ mum terms; however, there are statutory bases to extend the alimony award beyond these guidelines, which include the recipient spouse’s own physical or mental health disabilities or the need to care for a child with same. Guidelines regarding the amount of durational alimony were also implemented in July 2023, whereby the amount cannot exceed the lesser of the recipient spouse’s need OR 35% of the differential between the parties’ net incomes. Durational alimony terminates with the death of
either party or the remarriage of the recipient spouse. In awarding alimony, the court must first determine there is the requisite need and ability to pay. If that burden has been met by the requesting party, the court then applies the factors in 61.08 Fla. Stat. to determine the type, length and amount of the alimo ‑ ny award. These factors include an evaluation of the lifestyle of the parties, the ability of the recipient to go back to work, the income available to each party, including that from assets distributed in the dissolu ‑ tion process and from non-marital sources. Changes to the national tax laws have made it such that alimony is neither taxable to the recipient nor deductible by the paying spouse. See 26 USCA § 61 (wherein alimony/support payments are no longer included in the definition of gross income); see also Topic No 452 Alimony and Separate Maintenance, IRS. gov (last updated 11 January 2023). However, awards entered prior to 31 December 2018 that are taxable/ deductible awards will maintain that status. This also means that modifications of these pre-31 December 2018 spousal support awards remain taxable/deduct ‑ ible unless otherwise agreed to by the parties. See Publication 504 (2021), Divorced or Separated Indi ‑ viduals, IRS.gov (last updated 1 February 2022). Unless agreed to by the parties, all alimony awards are modifiable in amount, and depending on the type, may be modifiable in duration. See Ispass v Ispass , 243 So. 3d 453, 456 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018) (standing for both propositions). The standard to modify alimony is a substantial and permanent change in circumstances that was unknown at the time of the entry of the final judgment or the last order on support. See Valby v Valby , 317 So. 3d 147, 151 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021). For the most part, modifications are generally downward in nature, the paying spouse seeking to reduce their obligations, as opposed to the recipient seeking more. That does not mean upward modifications do not occur, but the vast majority are downward. While a future retirement is arguably known at the time of the entry of the Final Judgment, Florida Statutes provide that retirement age is in itself a substantial change in circumstance to allow for the modification
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