Florida Alimony Analysis: What Makes a Number Defensible After the 2023 Amendments

The 2023 amendments to Florida’s alimony statute did not just eliminate permanent alimony and establish durational limits. They changed what it means for an alimony position to be defensible in negotiation. A number that could be supported under the prior statute may not be supportable under the current one. A position that seemed aggressive before July 1, 2023 may now be the ceiling.

This article covers what makes an alimony position defensible under the current Florida statute — not just what the law says, but how to build a position that holds up in negotiation and, if necessary, at hearing.

The Foundational Test

Before any alimony analysis reaches the question of amount or duration, two conditions must be established. The requesting spouse must have a need for support. The other spouse must have the ability to pay.

Both are required. Neither is sufficient alone. A demonstrated need in the absence of ability to pay produces no alimony obligation. An ability to pay in the absence of demonstrated need produces the same result.

These conditions sound straightforward. In practice, they are frequently not. Need is not self-evident — it requires a documented analysis of the requesting spouse’s monthly income and expenses that shows a genuine gap between income and reasonable needs. Ability to pay is not simply the presence of income — it requires an analysis of the paying spouse’s net income after taxes, reasonable living expenses, and any other support obligations.

An alimony position that has not been built on documented need and documented ability is not a defensible position. It is a starting bid.

What Documented Need Looks Like

A documented need analysis starts with the monthly budget. Not the aspirational budget and not the minimized budget — the actual budget based on the marital standard of living.

The marital standard of living is a statutory factor in Florida alimony determinations. It is not what the requesting spouse currently spends post-separation, when marital resources may have been disrupted. It is what was actually spent during the marriage to maintain the lifestyle the court is being asked to preserve.

The analysis should show:

Monthly gross income from all sources available to the requesting spouse. Employment income, investment income, rental income, and any other recurring income.

Monthly reasonable expenses based on the marital standard of living. Housing, transportation, food, healthcare, insurance, personal care, and any other recurring expenses.

The gap between income and reasonable expenses. That gap, supported by documentation, is the need figure.

An alimony request that is not grounded in a specific monthly need figure, supported by financial records, is not going to hold up against scrutiny. Opposing counsel will request financial disclosure. A vague claim of need that cannot be supported by actual numbers will be challenged and will lose credibility on other issues as well.

What Documented Ability to Pay Looks Like

The ability-to-pay analysis mirrors the need analysis on the other side. It starts with the paying spouse’s gross income from all sources, subtracts taxes and mandatory deductions to arrive at net income, and then accounts for the paying spouse’s reasonable living expenses.

The gap between net income and reasonable living expenses is the available amount for support. An alimony obligation that exceeds that gap requires the paying spouse to either reduce their standard of living below reasonable levels or incur debt to meet the obligation. Florida courts do not routinely enter alimony obligations that are not serviceable from available income.

Income imputation is a related issue. If the paying spouse is voluntarily underemployed — earning less than their established capacity — the court may impute income at the level they are capable of earning. The imputation analysis requires evidence of the spouse’s qualifications, work history, and the prevailing wage for their skills in the relevant market. A well-supported imputation argument can significantly change the ability-to-pay calculation.

The Durational Analysis Under the 2023 Statute

Once need and ability are established, the durational analysis determines the maximum permissible length of the award. The 2023 statute establishes maximums, not defaults.

For marriages of less than seven years, the maximum is 50 percent of the marriage length. For marriages of seven to seventeen years, the maximum is 60 percent. For marriages of seventeen years or more, the maximum is 75 percent.

A defensible alimony position on duration does not simply assert the maximum. It applies the statutory factors to the specific facts of the marriage to support a duration within the permissible range. The relevant factors include the length of the marriage, the age and physical condition of each party, the standard of living, the earning capacity of each party, the contribution of each party to the marriage, and the tax treatment of any award.

A duration claim that exceeds the statutory maximum is not defensible. A duration claim at the statutory maximum that cannot be supported by the statutory factors is not defensible either. The defensible position is the one that is specifically grounded in the applicable factors as applied to the specific facts.

The Amount Analysis

The amount of alimony is not determined by formula in Florida. It is determined by the court’s application of the statutory factors to the documented need and ability figures.

A defensible alimony amount is one that closes the gap between the requesting spouse’s documented income and documented reasonable expenses, based on the marital standard of living; does not exceed the paying spouse’s available income after reasonable living expenses; accounts for the tax treatment of the payment under current federal law; and is supported by specific statutory factors, not just general assertions about the length of the marriage or the lifestyle of the parties.

Under current federal law, alimony payments under agreements executed after December 31, 2018 are not deductible by the payor and not includable in the recipient’s income. Both the gross amount and the after-tax impact on each party need to be reflected in the analysis.

What an Independent Review of an Alimony Position Covers

An independent review of a proposed alimony term evaluates it against the framework above. It identifies whether the need analysis is documented and supportable, whether the ability-to-pay analysis reflects current income and reasonable expenses, whether the proposed duration is within the applicable statutory maximum and supported by the relevant factors, and whether the tax treatment has been correctly accounted for.

The written report is yours to use with your current attorney in negotiation, at mediation, or in preparing for a hearing on temporary or final support. The reviewing attorney does not enter the case.

An alimony position that cannot be grounded in documented need, documented ability, and the specific statutory factors is not a defensible position. An independent review tells you whether what is being proposed reflects the current Florida statute or an assumption about what the law used to allow.