Florida law recognizes five types of alimony:
- Bridge-The-Gap: usually for a short period of time to transition a spouse to being single.
- Rehabilitative: Designed to provide alimony for a set period of time for a spouse to become retrained or educated in order to become self-sufficient.
- Durational: The purpose of which is to provide some economic assistance for a finite period of time.
- Lump Sum: A set amount payable usually in a single or multiple payments.
- Permanent: Which is typically in long term marriages when a disparity of financial circumstances exists. The Court can under certain circumstances award one or a combination of these forms of alimony, subject to later modification.
There is no “alimony chart”, in Florida. As such we review each client’s circumstances and analyze each client’s case based on tangible factors, such as the length of the marriage, lifestyle, contributions of the parties, imputation of income, disparity of financial resources, adultery and marital misconduct. We will help you determine your alimony options, and if the case warrants, defenses against paying unreasonable or any alimony. We work closely with experts such as forensic accountants to determine your spouse’s actual income and vocational evaluation experts to define what your spouse could actually be earning if employed full time.
Since alimony creates a legal obligation for certain payment, unless modified, if it is not paid in full when due, enforcement and/or contempt proceedings can be brought. Modification either increasing or decreasing alimony unless agreed upon by the parties as ‘non-modifiable” is permissible when there has been a substantial and material change of circumstances.
When alimony is not paid in full we are experienced in enforcing your rights to alimony and seeking incarceration if your spouse has willfully and intentionally failed to pay the alimony. However, we are equally skilled in defending those cases where circumstances exist that do not justify enforcement or contempt proceedings.