When your marriage ends in Florida, you may wonder if you are going to have to pay your former spouse one of several types of alimony the state currently recognizes. Many different factors help determine whether you have to pay your ex alimony, and often, the length of your marriage comes into play.
Per the Florida Legislature, while marriage length, alone, may not determine if you have to pay your ex alimony after a split, the duration of your marriage is likely to factor into the court’s decision.
How marriage length factors into alimony decisions
While Florida does not have a hard and fast rule dictating that those in longer marriages wind up having to pay or receive alimony, the odds of you having to pay it increase when the state considers your marriage to have been a long one. Generally speaking, Florida considers marriages that last less than seven years to be short-term marriages and marriages that last between seven and 17 years to be moderate-term marriages. The state considers marriages that last longer than 17 years to be long-term marriages, and alimony awards are most common among former couples who had long-term marriages.
What other variables might factor into alimony decisions
Many other factors also help determine if you have to pay alimony in your split. How employable your former partner is may come into play. Whether your ex made educational or professional sacrifices so that you could excel in your own career may also undergo review, among other considerations.
If the state awards your former partner alimony, it may do so for a set period of time, or it may make alimony payments permanent, depending on circumstances.
