Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Alimony

The Florida Statutes specify the types of alimony that can be awarded in a divorce and the factors that support the award. One consideration in determining alimony in Florida is the length of the parties’ marriage, which by statute is defined as lasting from the date of marriage until the date of filing for divorce. The length of the parties’ marriage in relation to the type of alimony awarded was a consideration in the case Whyte v. Whyte, 4D20-1576 (Fla. 4th DCA March 2, 2022).

The parties were married for less than 12 years by the time a petition for divorce was filed. In fact, the parties were just three days shy of their 12th wedding anniversary when the petition was filed. The trial court determined it was equitable to award durational alimony for 12 years despite the parties not being married for 12 full years. The Florida Statutes state durational alimony cannot exceed the length of the marriage. The former husband appealed, arguing the alimony award was erroneous based on the clear directives of the statutes.

The appellate court agreed with the former husband. It held “While the length of the marriage in this case was just shy of the twelve years of durational alimony awarded by the trial judge, the Florida Legislature imposed a statutory maximum prohibiting any award of durational alimony that exceeds the length of a marriage. The statutory maximum is clear and unambiguous. It does not provide discretion to exceed the statutory maximum even when the duration of the marriage is shy of the amount awarded by a de minimis amount. As our supreme court explained in Holly v. Auld, 450 So. 2d 217 (Fla. 1984), ‘courts of this state are ‘without power to construe an unambiguous statute in a way which would extend, modify, or limit, its express terms or its reasonable and obvious implications. To do so would be an abrogation of legislative power.’’ Id. at 219.”

The appellate court also reversed an imputation of income to the former husband where “Merely multiplying earnings from a few months of the husband’s past income on the assumption that he could continue generating the same amount each month despite his work’s seasonal nature is no substitute for setting forth proper findings to impute income supported by competent, substantial evidence of the husband’s income sources and probable earnings.” Schedule your consultation with a Miami divorce lawyer to understand how the law may apply to the facts of your case.