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New Florida Second District Court of Appeals Case with Good Analysis of Durational Alimony versus Permanent Alimony

In Giles v Giles, 45 Florida Law Weekly D1658 (2nd DCA July 10, 2020), the District Court of Appeals ruled that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in failing to award permanent alimony where duration of a marriage of sixteen years and eleven months, one month short of the seventeen-year duration considered to be a long term marriage. Wife did not rebut presumption that marriage was a moderate-term marriage. However, the durational alimony award was reversed and remanded for reconsideration where court made no finding of wife’s need for alimony. 

In this case, the former wife sought permanent alimony and contended that the marriage should be viewed as a long-term marriage. The former husband asserted that the former wife should receive no alimony and argued that the marriage was of moderate term. The former husband was forty-six years of age and the former wife was fifty-six years of age. 

In that case, the Second District Court of Appeals went through this analysis:

In awarding alimony, the trial court must determine: 

1. The party’s need for support. 

2. The other party’s ability to pay alimony. 

3. The type of alimony or types of alimony appropriate in the case; and 

4. The amount of alimony awarded. 

Section 61.08 provides that permanent alimony may be awarded following a marriage of long term duration if such an award is appropriate upon consideration of statutory factors or following a marriage of moderate duration if such an award is appropriate based on clear and convincing evidence after consideration of the statutory. FS 61.08(8).

Florida Statute 61.08(4) provides that there is a rebuttable presumption that a moderate-term marriage is a marriage of having a duration of greater than 7 years but less than 17 years or greater. Additionally, in awarding permanent alimony, the court shall include a finding that no other form of alimony is fair and reasonable under the circumstances of the parties.  

Neither age nor a spouse’s ability to earn some income alone rebuts the presumption in favor of permanent alimony in a long-term marriage. In almost every case involving one spouse who has historically been the homemaker in a long-term marriage and a disparity in income, courts have found that permanent alimony was appropriate.

Further, for a court to award permanent alimony in a moderate-term marriage, the court would need clear and convincing evidence. A permanent alimony award, in that case, will be reversed in the absence of clear and convincing evidence. 

If you have more questions regarding a Marital and Family Law matter, you may call Ann Marie Giordano Gilden at Ann Marie Giordano Gilden, P.A. at 407-732-7620 and set an initial consultation. You may also visit my website at: https//:www.AnnMarieGildenLaw.com; and check me out on these other sites: Ann Marie Giordano Gilden on FaceBook; Ann Marie (Giordano) Gilden on Linked In; and Ann Marie Giordano Gilden on AVVO and Lawyers.com. 

This article is for informational purposes only; and it does not form an attorney client privilege.