Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Alimony

Under Florida law, a court must consider the length of a marriage in determining whether or not alimony should be awarded. A marriage of less than 7 years is considered short-term, while a marriage that lasts between 7 and 17 years is considered moderate term. A marriage that is 17 years or longer is considered long-term. Permanent alimony is usually reserved for long-term marriages. How precise does the length of the marriage have to be? This was an issue in the case Giles v. Giles, 2D19-1268 (Fla. 2d DCA July 10, 2020).

During the parties’ marriage, the former wife was a homemaker for a majority of the time. Although the former wife had medical conditions, she expressed a desire to return to school and become employed. The former husband filed his petition for dissolution of marriage after the parties had been married for 16 years and 11 months, just shy of the 17 year-mark for long-term marriage. The former wife sought permanent alimony, and the former husband contended the former wife did not need alimony at all.

The trial court denied the former wife’s request for permanent alimony, but awarded her a combination of durational and rehabilitative alimony. The former wife appealed this issue among others. She argued “that because the trial court stated, without elaboration, that the marriage was a moderate-term marriage for alimony purposes, the court failed to recognize that it had discretion to determine that this was a long-term marriage.” The appellate court noted that this was an issue of first impression, as the statutes and case law did not provide guidance about rebutting the statutory presumptions about the length of a marriage. However, the court held “Certainly this presents a close case; had the petition for dissolution been filed one month later than it was, the marriage would have presumptively been long-term. But the former wife relied only upon the nearly seventeen years the parties were married before the dissolution petition was filed and the evidence of the parties' roles during the marriage to rebut the presumption of a moderate-term marriage. This evidence is insufficient to overcome the statutory presumption when coupled with the abuse of discretion standard.”

Contact a Miami alimony lawyer for an analysis of the specific facts of your case and learn how Florida law may be applied to your situation.