Florida Alimony Laws: Types, Duration, and the 2023 Reform (2026)
Florida Alimony Laws: Types, Duration, and the 2023 Reform (2026)
Florida abolished permanent alimony on July 1, 2023, when Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 1416 into law. Today, four time-limited types of alimony exist under Fla. Stat. section 61.08, each with strict durational caps tied to the length of the marriage.
Information last verified on June 1, 2026.
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What is alimony in Florida?
Alimony (also called spousal support or spousal maintenance) is a court-ordered payment from one former spouse to the other following a divorce or legal separation. Florida courts may also award support in cases involving annulments or petitions for support not connected with a dissolution of marriage.
The purpose of alimony in Florida is not punishment or reward. Under Fla. Stat. section 61.08, courts are authorized to award alimony when one spouse demonstrates an actual financial need and the other spouse has the ability to pay. The standard of living established during the marriage is one benchmark courts may consult, but it is not the only factor and does not guarantee any particular outcome.
Alimony is separate from the division of marital property and from child support. A court may award alimony alongside a property distribution, but the two are governed by different legal standards and different statutes.
The 2023 reform: the end of permanent alimony
Before July 1, 2023, Florida courts could award permanent alimony (payments with no defined end date that continued until the recipient's death or remarriage). Permanent alimony was most commonly granted in long marriages when one spouse had substantially reduced earning capacity due to the relationship.
Governor DeSantis signed SB 1416 on March 24, 2023. The law took effect July 1, 2023, and it removed permanent alimony from the statute entirely. Under the current version of Fla. Stat. section 61.08, a court has no authority to award permanent alimony on any initial petition pending or filed on or after July 1, 2023.
Existing alimony orders entered before that date are not automatically changed. A person receiving permanent alimony under a pre-2023 divorce decree continues to receive it unless a court modifies the order based on a substantial change in circumstances under Fla. Stat. section 61.14. The 2023 reform does not retroactively strip anyone of alimony already ordered by a court.
For divorces filed on or after July 1, 2023, durational alimony is now the longest available form of support, and it comes with hard caps on both the duration and the amount of the award.
The four types of alimony in Florida
Fla. Stat. section 61.08 currently authorizes four forms of alimony. Courts may award one type or a combination of types depending on the facts of the case.
Temporary alimony
Temporary alimony provides financial support to a spouse during the dissolution proceedings, before a final judgment is entered. It ends when the court issues its final order on divorce. Temporary support addresses the practical reality that one spouse may lack immediate access to funds during litigation, particularly in longer marriages where one spouse managed the household while the other worked outside the home.
Bridge-the-gap alimony
Bridge-the-gap alimony helps a spouse transition from being married to being single. It is designed to assist with identifiable, short-term needs, for example a period of housing costs while the recipient secures permanent housing or living expenses during a job search.
Key rules under Fla. Stat. section 61.08:
- Maximum duration: 2 years
- Terminates automatically on the death of either party or on the remarriage of the recipient
- Not modifiable in amount or duration once awarded
Because bridge-the-gap alimony cannot be modified, courts must carefully assess the short-term need at the time of the award. It is the most limited and non-flexible form of support under the current statute.
Rehabilitative alimony
Rehabilitative alimony supports a spouse who needs to build or rebuild the capacity for self-support. This might involve completing a degree, obtaining professional licensure, or developing job skills after years out of the workforce.
Key rules:
- Maximum duration: 5 years
- Requires a specific and defined rehabilitative plan at the time of the award
- Modifiable if there is a substantial change in circumstances or if the recipient fails to comply with the rehabilitation plan
- Modifiable or terminable if the recipient completes the plan ahead of schedule
The rehabilitation plan is a hard requirement, not a suggestion. A court cannot simply award rehabilitative alimony and leave the plan to be developed later. The plan must be specific enough for the court to evaluate progress and compliance.
Durational alimony
Durational alimony provides economic assistance for a defined period. It replaced permanent alimony as the longest available form of support and is subject to strict caps on both length and amount.
Key rules:
- Cannot be awarded if the marriage lasted less than 3 years
- Duration is capped at a percentage of the marriage length depending on the marriage category (see the section below)
- Amount is capped at the lesser of the recipient's reasonable need or 35% of the difference between the parties' net incomes
- Terminates on the death of either party or on the remarriage of the recipient
- Modifiable in amount based on a substantial change in circumstances; the duration may be modified only under exceptional circumstances
Durational alimony is now the primary tool for long-term support in Florida divorces. Understanding the caps is critical to understanding how much support a court can actually award.
How much and how long: durational caps and the amount formula
The need and ability threshold
Before a court can award any alimony in Florida, it must make two specific findings. First, the requesting spouse must have an actual need for financial support. Second, the other spouse must have the ability to pay. Without both findings, no alimony award is permitted, regardless of the length of the marriage or the income disparity between the parties.
Marriage duration categories
Florida Statute 61.08 classifies marriages into three categories for durational alimony purposes. These classifications create rebuttable presumptions, meaning a party may present evidence to argue that the facts of their case fall outside the standard classification.
- Short-term marriage: less than 10 years
- Moderate-term marriage: 10 years to less than 20 years
- Long-term marriage: 20 years or longer
Duration caps
The maximum length of a durational alimony award is:
- Short-term marriage: up to 50% of the length of the marriage
- Moderate-term marriage: up to 60% of the length of the marriage
- Long-term marriage: up to 75% of the length of the marriage
For example, a 15-year marriage is moderate-term. The maximum duration of a durational alimony award in that case is 60% of 15 years, or 9 years. A 25-year marriage is long-term, and the cap is 75% of 25 years, or 18 years and 9 months.
These are statutory maximums, not defaults. A court may award a shorter duration based on the circumstances, including the factors listed in the statute.
The amount formula
For durational alimony, the statute sets the amount at whichever is less:
- The obligee's reasonable need, or
- 35% of the difference between the parties' net incomes
For example, if the paying spouse's net income is $8,000 per month and the receiving spouse's net income is $2,000 per month, the difference is $6,000. Thirty-five percent of $6,000 is $2,100. If the recipient's documented reasonable need is $1,800 per month, the award would be $1,800 because that is the lesser amount. If the documented need is $2,500, the award would be capped at $2,100.
Net income for this calculation generally refers to income after taxes and applicable deductions. Courts may also consider income that a party is capable of earning even if that party is voluntarily underemployed.
Factors the court considers
In addition to the need-and-ability threshold, Fla. Stat. section 61.08 directs courts to consider a range of factors when determining the type, amount, and duration of alimony. These include:
- The duration of the marriage
- The standard of living established during the marriage
- The age and physical and emotional health of each party
- The financial resources of each party, including non-marital and marital assets and liabilities
- The earning capacity, educational level, vocational skills, and employability of each party
- The contribution of each party to the marriage, including homemaking, child care, education, and career-building of the other party
- The responsibilities each party will have regarding minor children
- Tax treatment of any alimony award
- Any other factor the court deems equitable and necessary
No single factor is controlling. Courts weigh all relevant circumstances in light of the facts of the specific case.
How Florida alimony ends or changes
Remarriage of the recipient
All forms of alimony under Florida law terminate automatically if the recipient remarries. This applies to bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, durational, and any surviving permanent alimony awards. The paying spouse must generally provide notice and may need to file a motion, but remarriage is a legal termination event regardless of whether the court has issued a formal order.
Death of either party
Alimony terminates on the death of either the paying spouse or the receiving spouse unless a written agreement expressly provides otherwise. Courts cannot order alimony to survive the death of the paying spouse absent an agreement between the parties.
Supportive relationship and cohabitation
Florida law addresses the situation where an alimony recipient enters a supportive relationship with another person without legally remarrying. Under Fla. Stat. section 61.14, a court may reduce or terminate an alimony award upon written findings that the recipient is in a supportive relationship.
A supportive relationship is not defined solely by living together. Courts consider whether the recipient and the other person have pooled financial resources, whether the other person contributes to the recipient's support, and the nature and permanence of the relationship. The paying spouse must petition the court and prove the relationship; alimony does not stop automatically upon cohabitation.
Retirement of the paying spouse
Florida law allows the paying spouse to petition for modification of alimony in reasonable anticipation of retirement, but not more than 6 months before the expected retirement date. A court may modify or terminate alimony based on a reasonable and voluntary retirement. Forced or premature retirement may not qualify. The court evaluates whether the retirement is genuine and whether it represents a substantial change in circumstances.
Modification of durational alimony
The amount of a durational alimony award may be modified based on a substantial change in circumstances under Fla. Stat. section 61.14. The duration of the award may be modified only upon a showing of exceptional circumstances. This is a higher bar than modifying the amount. Courts do not routinely extend the duration of a durational alimony award; the durational cap is treated as a firm outer boundary in most cases.
Is alimony taxable, and how it differs from Florida child support
Federal tax treatment of alimony
Under the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the tax treatment of alimony depends on when the divorce or separation agreement was executed.
For agreements executed after December 31, 2018, alimony payments are not deductible by the paying spouse and are not taxable income to the receiving spouse. This applies to nearly all divorces proceeding under the current Florida statute. Because Florida itself does not impose a state income tax, there is no separate Florida state tax on alimony.
For agreements executed on or before December 31, 2018, the old rules apply: the paying spouse could deduct alimony payments, and the recipient reported them as taxable income. Those rules continue to apply to those older agreements unless the agreement was subsequently modified to opt into the new treatment.
Consult a tax professional for guidance on your specific situation, particularly if you have an older agreement or if your agreement is being modified.
How alimony differs from child support
Alimony and child support are legally distinct obligations in Florida. Key differences include:
- Purpose: Alimony supports a former spouse. Child support supports the financial needs of a minor child.
- Tax treatment: Under current law, child support is never deductible by the payer and never taxable to the recipient, regardless of when the agreement was executed. This has always been the rule for child support.
- Modification standard: Child support is calculated using Florida's statutory guidelines under Fla. Stat. section 61.30, which are based on parental incomes and the number of overnights. Alimony is more discretionary.
- Termination: Child support continues until the child reaches adulthood or other statutory conditions are met. Alimony terminates based on spousal circumstances such as remarriage or the durational cap.
For information on Florida's child support guidelines, see our page on Florida child support laws.
For a broader look at how states handle spousal support across the country, see the alimony laws by state hub.
Legal disclaimer: This page provides general legal information about Florida alimony law and is not legal advice. Alimony determinations are highly fact-specific and depend on individual circumstances. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed Florida family law attorney.
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Sources
- Florida Legislature. The 2025 Florida Statutes, Section 61.08: Alimony. https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0061/Sections/0061.08.html
- Florida Senate. CS for SB 1416 (2023): Enrolled Bill Text. https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1416/BillText/er/HTML
- Florida Senate. Chapter 61 Section 08: 2024 Florida Statutes. https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2024/61.08
- Internal Revenue Service. Divorce or Separation May Have an Effect on Taxes. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/divorce-or-separation-may-have-an-effect-on-taxes
- Florida Courts. Child Support: Family Court in Florida. https://www.flcourts.gov/Resources-Services/Office-of-Family-Courts/Family-Court-in-Florida/Child-Support
Last updated: June 1, 2026.