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Permanent Alimony Standards in the Orlando, Florida Area

The standard by which amounts of alimony and attorney fees are to be assessed is the familiar one, which balances needs as fixed by the parties’ standard of living on one hand and ability to pay on the other. 

What to Prove

The starting point for each and every alimony analysis is to determine need and ability to pay. The one element common to all types of alimony is the requirement that the recipient spouse must have a need, and the payor spouse must have the ability to pay. The party requesting alimony has the burden of proof of actual need and the other party’s ability to pay. 

No matter how rich the payor spouse, or how long the marriage, a recipient will not receive alimony absent a showing of need. To have a need, the recipient spouse must be unable to gain (or regain) the means to earn enough income to meet the standard of living set by the marriage. 

Where Alimony is Not Appropriate

Where the spouse receives sufficient income producing assets through equitable distribution such that all needs are otherwise met, alimony is not appropriate, regardless of the wealth of the other spouse. Disparity of income alone, even with minor children, does not justify an award of permanent periodic alimony. 

When an award of alimony is properly granted, such award may not leave the payor spouse with significantly less net income than the net income of the recipient unless there are written findings of exceptional circumstances. This is according to Florida Statute 61.08(9). 

Equitable Distribution

Since equitable distribution is a trial court’s first priority, an alimony award must view resources after consideration of the parties’ respective financial resources after equitable distribution award. Only after that is accomplished can the relative post-dissolution financial situations of the parties be ascertained and compared, and the need of one party for additional support and the ability of the other to pay it, be determined. However, requiring a spouse to deplete capital assets in order to maintain his or her standard of living is improper. 

The length of marriage is determined from the date of marriage through the date the petition is filed. 

There is a rebuttable presumption that permanent periodic alimony is appropriate in the case of a long-term marriage, and also a rebuttable presumption that a marriage lasting seventeen years or longer is a long-term marriage. 

The primary factors to be considered in deciding to award alimony are the needs of one spouse and the ability of the other spouse to pay. The alimony Statute 61.08, Florida Statutes, provides that permanent alimony may be awarded following a marriage of long duration if such an award is appropriate upon consideration of the factors set out in section (2). 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. 

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. 

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