Florida rewrote its alimony law in 2023, and a lot of what circulates online about Florida alimony (permanent awards, lifetime payments, informal percentage rules) describes the law as it stood before that change. Here is what Fla. Stat. 61.08 actually says today, for cases filed on or after July 1, 2023.
Key Takeaway: Florida no longer allows permanent alimony for new cases. The current statute recognizes four forms: temporary, bridge the gap, rehabilitative, and durational. Durational alimony now has hard percentage caps tied to how long the marriage lasted, and there has never been a numeric formula for the amount, only a list of factors a judge weighs.
What Are Florida's Alimony Guidelines and How Is It Calculated?
Florida does not calculate alimony from a formula or a percentage table the way it calculates child support under Fla. Stat. 61.30. Under Fla. Stat. 61.08, a judge follows a two step process instead.
First, the spouse asking for support has to prove an actual need for it, and prove that the other spouse has the ability to pay. If neither is shown, the request is denied outright. Second, if both need and ability to pay are established, the court weighs a list of factors set out in subsection (3): the duration of the marriage, the standard of living during the marriage, the age and physical, mental, and emotional condition of each spouse, the resources and income of each party, earning capacity and employability, each spouse's contribution to the marriage (including homemaking and child care), and any other factor necessary for equity between the parties. There is no formula that converts those factors into a dollar figure. The amount and form of alimony are left to the judge's findings on the record.
What Does the Florida Alimony Statute (61.08) Say?
Fla. Stat. 61.08, titled simply "Alimony," is the controlling statute for every Florida dissolution case involving spousal support. The version in effect now was substantially rewritten by Chapter 2023-315, Laws of Florida (CS/SB 1416), effective July 1, 2023. The statute applies to all initial petitions for dissolution or for support unconnected with dissolution that were pending or filed on or after that date.
The statute sets out the four forms of alimony, the factors a court must consider, the marriage length categories used for durational alimony, and the standard for later modifying or enforcing an award. If your case was filed before July 1, 2023, ask the court or your circuit's self-help center which version of the statute applies to you, since the prior version, including permanent alimony, can still control older cases and orders.
What Types of Alimony Exist in Florida?
Under current Florida law, a court can award one or a combination of four forms of alimony, plus temporary support while a case is pending:
- Temporary alimony. Support ordered while the divorce case is still pending, before a final judgment.
- Bridge the gap alimony. Short term support to help a spouse transition from married to single life, addressing identifiable, short term needs. It cannot exceed 2 years, ends on death or the recipient's remarriage, and cannot be modified in amount or duration once ordered.
- Rehabilitative alimony. Support tied to a specific, defined plan to redevelop a spouse's job skills or finish an education or training program. It cannot exceed 5 years and can be modified or ended if the plan is not followed or is completed early.
- Durational alimony. Support for a set period, capped as a percentage of the marriage length (below). It ends on death or the recipient's remarriage, and the amount can be modified for a substantial change in circumstances, though the length of the award generally cannot be.
Florida no longer has a category called "permanent alimony" for cases filed on or after July 1, 2023. That form was removed from the statute in the 2023 rewrite.
How Long Do You Pay Alimony in Florida?
Length depends on which type of alimony was awarded.
For durational alimony specifically, the statute first sorts marriages into three categories based on the time between the date of marriage and the date the dissolution petition was filed: a short term marriage is under 10 years, a moderate term marriage is 10 to 20 years, and a long term marriage is 20 years or more. An award of durational alimony cannot exceed 50 percent of the length of a short term marriage, 60 percent of a moderate term marriage, or 75 percent of a long term marriage. Durational alimony cannot be awarded at all for a marriage that lasted less than 3 years, and the length of the award can be extended past the marriage's length only under exceptional circumstances, backed by clear and convincing evidence tied to specific factors like the recipient's age, disability, or caregiving responsibilities for a shared child with a disability.
Bridge the gap alimony tops out at 2 years. Rehabilitative alimony tops out at 5 years, tied to the length of the underlying rehabilitation plan.
Does Adultery or Cohabitation Affect Alimony in Florida?
Both can factor into an alimony decision, though neither works as an automatic rule.
Fla. Stat. 61.08(1)(a) allows the court to consider the adultery of either spouse, and any resulting economic impact, when deciding how much alimony to award. It sits alongside the other statutory factors rather than overriding them.
Cohabitation works differently, and it usually comes up after alimony has already been awarded, not before. Fla. Stat. 61.14(1)(b) requires the court to reduce or terminate an alimony award if it makes specific written findings that a supportive relationship exists between the person receiving alimony and someone they are not related to by blood or marriage.
How Florida Alimony Law Has Changed: the 2023 Reform (SB 1416)
If you are reading older content about Florida alimony from 2020, 2021, or 2022, it is describing the prior statute, which still allowed permanent alimony for long term marriages and did not cap durational alimony at fixed percentages of marriage length.
That changed with CS/SB 1416, an act relating to dissolution of marriage, passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law as Chapter 2023-315, Laws of Florida, effective July 1, 2023.
The rewritten Fla. Stat. 61.08 eliminated permanent alimony as an available form of support for new cases, added the marriage length categories and durational caps described above, and added the burden of proof language requiring the requesting spouse to establish need and the other spouse's ability to pay. It also changed how retirement and supportive relationships affect existing support obligations.
The statute applies to petitions pending or filed on or after July 1, 2023. Whether or how it affects an alimony order entered before that date is a question for the court handling your case or your circuit's self-help center, since older final judgments are not automatically reopened by the change in law.
What's the Typical Alimony Amount in Florida?
There is no published formula or percentage table for the amount, unlike Florida's child support guidelines. The amount comes out of the factor weighing process in Fla. Stat. 61.08(3): marriage length, standard of living, age and health, resources and income of each spouse (including income from marital and nonmarital assets), earning capacity, and each spouse's contribution to the marriage.
For durational alimony specifically, the statute does put a cap on the amount: it cannot exceed the recipient's reasonable need, or 35 percent of the difference between the spouses' net incomes, whichever is lower. Net income for this purpose is calculated the same way as for child support, under Fla. Stat. 61.30(2) and (3).
Any dollar figure or percentage you see online for "typical" or "average" Florida alimony is describing case outcomes, not a rule the statute requires a court to follow.
How Do You Modify or Enforce Alimony in Florida?
Fla. Stat. 61.14 governs both enforcement and modification of alimony agreements and orders. Either spouse can apply to the circuit court for an order increasing, decreasing, or confirming support when there has been a substantial change in circumstances or in either party's financial ability.
Not every type of alimony can be modified the same way. Bridge the gap alimony is not modifiable in amount or duration once it is ordered. Durational alimony's amount can be modified for a substantial change in circumstances, but the length of the award can be changed only under exceptional circumstances. Rehabilitative alimony can be modified or ended based on a substantial change in circumstances, failure to follow the rehabilitative plan, or early completion of that plan.
What Are the Grounds and Qualifications for Alimony in Florida?
There is no separate list of qualifying "grounds" in the way there are grounds for an annulment. Any spouse in a Florida dissolution case can ask for alimony. Whether it gets awarded turns on the two step test in Fla. Stat. 61.08: proving an actual need for support, and proving the other spouse's ability to pay it. Only after both are shown does the court move to setting the type, amount, and duration using the statutory factors.
- Relying on articles describing "permanent alimony" without checking whether they predate the July 1, 2023 reform
- Assuming there is a percentage or formula for the amount, the way there is for child support
- Assuming durational alimony automatically runs for the full length of the marriage; it is capped below that
- Forgetting that bridge the gap alimony cannot be modified once awarded
- Treating cohabitation as an automatic cutoff without the court's written findings on a supportive relationship
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Florida's alimony guidelines?
Florida does not use a numeric guideline or formula for alimony the way it does for child support. Instead, Fla. Stat. 61.08 requires a judge to first decide whether the requesting spouse has an actual need and whether the other spouse has the ability to pay, then set the amount and form of alimony by weighing factors like the length of the marriage, each spouse's income and earning capacity, age, health, and contributions to the marriage.
Is there still permanent alimony in Florida?
No. Fla. Stat. 61.08(1)(a), as amended effective July 1, 2023, lists only four forms of alimony a court can award: temporary, bridge the gap, rehabilitative, and durational. Permanent alimony was removed from the statute for cases filed on or after that date. Older permanent alimony orders entered before July 1, 2023, are not automatically converted or ended by the new law.
How long do you pay alimony in Florida?
It depends on the type and, for durational alimony, on marriage length. Bridge the gap alimony cannot exceed 2 years. Rehabilitative alimony cannot exceed 5 years and requires a specific plan. Durational alimony cannot exceed 50 percent of the length of a short term marriage (under 10 years), 60 percent for a moderate term marriage (10 to 20 years), or 75 percent for a long term marriage (20 years or more), and it cannot be awarded at all for marriages under 3 years except in limited circumstances.
Does adultery affect alimony in Florida?
Yes, to a limited degree. Fla. Stat. 61.08(1)(a) lets the court consider the adultery of either spouse and any resulting economic impact when deciding the amount of alimony. It is one factor among many, not an automatic bar or an automatic entitlement, and the requesting spouse still has to prove need and the other spouse's ability to pay.
Does cohabitation affect alimony in Florida?
It can. Under Fla. Stat. 61.14, a court must reduce or terminate an alimony award if it makes specific written findings that a supportive relationship exists between the person receiving alimony and someone they are not related to by blood or marriage. The court looks at the nature of that relationship, not just whether two people live in the same home.
How do you modify alimony in Florida?
Under Fla. Stat. 61.14, either spouse can ask the court to increase, decrease, or terminate support when there has been a substantial change in circumstances or financial ability. Bridge the gap alimony is the exception. It is not modifiable in amount or duration once awarded. Durational alimony amounts can be modified, but the length of the award can be changed only under exceptional circumstances.
What are the grounds for getting alimony in Florida?
There is no fixed formula. A court first requires the spouse asking for alimony to prove an actual need for support and that the other spouse has the ability to pay it. If both are shown, the court weighs the factors in Fla. Stat. 61.08(3), including marriage length, standard of living, age and health, income and earning capacity, and each spouse's contribution to the marriage, to decide the type, amount, and duration.
How Virdix Helps
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Virdix is a document preparation service, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. Statutes and procedures can change; always confirm current information with the Florida Courts, the Florida Statutes, or your circuit court clerk. For advice about your specific situation, consult a licensed Florida attorney.
Sources: Chapter 61, Florida Statutes, Section 61.08 and Section 61.14 (leg.state.fl.us), Florida Senate Bill Information for CS/SB 1416 (flsenate.gov)