New Florida Alimony Law?
I recently appeared on Fox Business on the Willis Report to discuss the proposed new alimony law in Florida (interview can be seen by clicking: video.foxbusiness.com/v/2330991181001). It is an interesting law. While many have summarized it as a vehicle to eliminate lifetime alimony and to shorten or limit other alimony, the drafters have done a very careful job in creating the bill. Yes the overall intent seems to be to reduce alimony, but the wording is very interesting. Instead of mandating certain results, burdens are shifted. For instance, under the proposal, certain alimony would only be allowed upon “clear and convincing” evidence which is different and harder to achieve than the usual standard in a civil case of “preponderance of the evidence”. The full bill can be viewed at: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0718/BillText/e2/PDF. Let me know your thoughts.