Alimony can bring more animosity than anything in a divorce, and it can be especially painful after having a marriage that’s lasted for many years. But what happens if you’ve only been married a short time and a fellow spouse needs to have support in order to survive? At one time here in Florida, no alimony would have been given for a short marriage. Now things have changed with a Florida law established in 2010 allowing anyone married under 17 years to work out a durational alimony.
Since it uses the word “duration”, you can probably guess this means a temporary monthly payout. Numerous types of temporary alimony exist, with this one being designed for a specific number of years. The catch under Florida law is the length of time can’t exceed the number of years you were married.
In that regard, if you’ve divorced after only six months, you may not have to pay alimony to a cash-strapped spouse for very long. If your divorce case isn’t amicable, it could mean they attempt to go for a different kind of alimony in order to get financial help.
However, assuming you and your spouse agree to a durational alimony plan, what will the court look at in order to determine how much you’ll have to pay to your spouse?
Going Beyond the Duration of the Marriage
The court is going to determine the basic standards of living your spouse had during the marriage to see if it’s really necessary you pay out to them. A lot of marriages involve a single income from one or the other, with perhaps the fellow spouse only working part-time to bring in extra. If they’re stuck with this income after you divorce, the court may have you pay out the amount they need in order to survive or before they can get something full-time.
Health is always a factor in all alimony decisions. If your fellow spouse has physical or mental handicaps preventing them from being able to work, you’ll likely have to help them. No doubt their legal team will work toward creating a permanent alimony system since durational alimony wouldn’t help them long term.
How much a spouse put into the marriage can also factor, including when children are involved. Your spouse may have spent extra time caring for your children while you worked, and that’s going to be taken seriously to determine how much alimony you pay.
In addition, the earning potential of a fellow spouse will play a part in perhaps setting the length of the durational alimony. If they’re capable of making a certain amount in a career field, alimony may be figured on how long it would take them to possibly find a job or complete training.
We can help you through all alimony challenges here at Hackworth Law Firm. With our focus on family law, divorce, alimony, and child custody, we invite you to contact us if you’ve just been divorced and think that you may have to pay alimony to your spouse. We’ll help you step by step through the process when the court makes the decision. And we’ll provide the necessary evidence you need to prove why you should or shouldn’t have to pay that alimony out.