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Complex Divorce & Family Law
Spousal support under Florida's bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational framework.
On July 1, 2023, Senate Bill 1416 took effect and fundamentally rewrote Florida alimony law. The single most important change: permanent alimony has been eliminated. In any divorce decided on or after that date, a court can no longer award lifetime spousal support. In its place, Florida law now provides a structured menu of time-limited awards, with firm caps on both the amount and the duration. For anyone who expects to pay or receive support, the practical effect is enormous — and the way a case must be presented has changed with it.
A Florida court may now award one type, or a combination, of the following:
Before any alimony is awarded, the spouse asking for it must establish two things: an actual need for support, and the other spouse's ability to pay. Only after making those threshold findings does the court turn to the type, amount, and length of an award. This is exactly why the financial presentation matters so much — the same underlying facts, organized and framed differently, can move an award by a wide margin.
For durational alimony, the amount is now capped by statute. An award may not exceed the lesser of the recipient's reasonable need or 35% of the difference between the parties' net incomes. For higher earners, that net-income gap is frequently the controlling number — which makes an accurate, well-documented calculation of each spouse's true net income the center of gravity in the whole case. What counts as income, how bonuses and distributions are treated, and which deductions apply can each swing the result.
Durational alimony is also limited in length, based on how the marriage is classified:
As a general rule, durational alimony is not awarded at all for a marriage of less than three years, and a court may exceed these caps only in exceptional circumstances supported by specific written findings.
Within those caps, the court weighs a familiar set of factors, including the standard of living established during the marriage; the length of the marriage; each spouse's age and physical, mental, and emotional condition; each spouse's earning capacity, education, skills, and employability; the contributions of each spouse to the marriage, including homemaking and raising children; and the responsibilities each will have for any minor children. Adultery is not a free-standing basis for a larger or smaller award, but the court may consider it to the extent it caused a measurable economic impact — for example, marital funds spent on an affair.
The 2023 law also sharpened the grounds to reduce or end support. Alimony generally terminates on the recipient's remarriage, and it can be modified or terminated when the recipient enters a supportive relationship — a marriage-like cohabitation — or when the paying spouse reaches a reasonable retirement age. Bridge-the-gap alimony remains non-modifiable; durational and rehabilitative alimony can be revisited on a substantial change in circumstances. See modification & enforcement for how that process works.
For any divorce finalized after 2018, alimony is no longer deductible by the person paying it, nor taxable to the person receiving it, under federal law. That one change affects the real, after-tax cost of every support figure, and it should be built into every settlement calculation rather than bolted on at the end.
For business owners, executives, and professionals, the end of permanent alimony and the 35% cap have reshaped both exposure and opportunity. These cases are won or lost on the financial facts: what truly counts as each spouse's income, how bonuses and equity compensation are characterized, and how need and ability to pay are documented and presented. Positioning those facts early — with the right valuation and accounting experts — is what separates a measured, predictable outcome from a costly one.
Alimony in Florida is now a numbers case. The party who commands the financial record commands the result.
No. Permanent alimony was eliminated for cases decided on or after July 1, 2023. Existing permanent-alimony awards from before the reform are not automatically changed.
At the lesser of the recipient's reasonable need or 35% of the difference between the parties' net incomes.
It is capped by the length of the marriage: up to 50% of a short-term marriage, 60% of a moderate-term marriage, and 75% of a long-term marriage.
Only to the extent the adultery had an economic impact on the marital estate — for example, marital funds spent on an affair.
Yes. Durational and rehabilitative alimony can be modified on a substantial change, and alimony may be reduced or terminated based on a supportive relationship or the payor's retirement.
