Brandon Alimony Attorneys are nearly always asked about alimony and other financial issues during the pendency of the divorce case. In Florida, the court will evaluate Florida Statute Section 61.08, titled “Alimony” to determine whether to award alimony.
Before analyzing the specific factors though, the court must first make a determination whether 
there’s been an actual need for alimony and, arguably more importantly, whether the other party has the ability to pay alimony. We also like to think of this as a “need and ability to pay” analysis. Once the court has found the need and the ability to pay, then the court must evaluate these factors to determine the proper type of alimony to award and the amount of the award.
The factors include:
a) The standard of living established during the marriage.
b) The duration of the marriage.
c) The age, and the physical and emotional condition of each party.
d) The financial resources of each party, including the nonmarital and the marital assets and liabilities attributed to each.
e) The earning capacities, educational levels, vocational skills, and employability of parties, and when applicable, the time necessary for either party to acquire sufficient education or training to enable such party to find appropriate employment.
f) The contribution of each party to the marriage, including but not limited to, services rendered at homemaking, child rearing, education and career-building of the other party.
g) The responsibilities each party will have with regard to any minor children they have in common.
h) The tax treatment and consequences to both parties of any alimony awarded, including the designation of all, or a portion of the payment as a non-taxable, non-deductible payment.
i) All sources of income available to either party, including income available to either party through investments of any assets held by that party.
j) Any other factor necessary to equity and justice between the two parties.
As you can see from these factors, the court is attempting to consider all financial assets and characteristics of the party in determining whether or not to award a specific form of alimony, and more importantly, the amount of alimony that will be awarded. As we have discussed elsewhere in our Tampa divorce attorney blog, Florida courts have four options as to the types of alimony–bridge-the-gap alimony, rehabilitative alimony, duration alimony and finally, permanent alimony. We discuss these elsewhere on our Brandon Alimony Attorney blog.
If you have questions concerning what form of alimony is appropriate in your case, contact the Brandon Alimony Attorney of Hackworth Law Firm for a free case consultation. We’ve handled hundreds of family law matters throughout the entire Tampa Bay area, and work hard to develop a strategy that meets your needs and protects your rights. If you would like to contact one of our Brandon Alimony Attorneys immediately, please use the “Contact Us Now” tab in the upper righthand corner of our website. We also have folks standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer your phone calls and connect you to one of our Brandon Alimony Attorneys. We appreciate your time and attention in checking out our Brandon Alimony Attorney blog and look forward to working with you.