The Florida alimony reform bill passed the Florida legislature and was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on June 30, 2023. This bill will have a significant impact on how alimony will be awarded in Florida. It applies to all initial petitions for dissolution of marriage that are filed or pending…
Durational alimony is awarded to provide the recipient spouse with economic assistance for a specific period of time. An award of durational alimony will not exceed 50% percent of the length of a short-term marriage, 60% percent of the length of a moderate-term marriage, and 75% of the length of…
Divorce proceedings in Florida often involve the division of businesses. Courts typically effectuate the division of property and assets in a Florida divorce in such a manner as to allow the operating spouse to retain his or her ownership in the business. Florida Courts will not require spouses to remain…
There are four types of alimony in Florida. They are temporary alimony, bridge-the-gap alimony, rehabilitative alimony and durational alimony. Trial courts may award one or any combination of these four types of alimony. In a recent case captioned Ogle v. Ogle, the Florida Court of Appeal described the purpose of…
In Florida, courts begin with the premise that the distribution of marital assets and liabilities will be equal. Courts look at all of the following 10 factors to determine whether an unequal division of marital assets is appropriate: (i) whether one of the parties has made an extraordinary contribution to…
In Florida, courts may award shared parental responsibility, sole parental responsibility and ultimate decision making authority. Florida courts prefer to award shared parental decision making. Shared parental responsibility means that parents are required to attempt to confer and reach agreement on major issues that affect the welfare of their children.…
A recently decided alimony case captioned Rodolph v. Rodolph involved two appeals by the husband. Since both appeals involved the same parties and the same facts, the Florida Court of Appeal consolidated the cases into one appeal. In Rodolph v. Rodolph, the husband appealed the lower court’s order denying his…
Durational alimony terminates when either of the parties dies or the recipient of alimony remarries. In a unique case captioned Dills v. Perez the parties’ marital settlement agreement contained a provision that stated that the former husband’s obligation to pay durational alimony to the former wife was non-modifiable. At the…
In Florida, pets are considered to be personal property. In the event that a pet was owned by one of the parties prior to the marriage, that party will be entitled to keep the pet. In the event that the pet was acquired by the parties during the course of…
In a recent child support case involving unmarried parents, the mother attempted to impute income to the father. The father lost his job as a commodity broker as a result of his misappropriation of funds. The mother introduced a report from a vocational expert in an attempt to impute income…