On
May 1st, Governor Scott vetoed Senate Bill 718, bringing relief to most
family law lawyers and recipients of alimony. The bill as proposed
would have made major cuts to the alimony laws and would have limited
the Courts ability to make sure that women (usually recipients of
alimony) were adequately able to provide for themselves and their
children. The fact that the law would have applied retroactively is what
was most concerning, putting all women who currently receive permanent
alimony at risk.
At
this point we can see where the legislature intends to go on the issue
of alimony and time sharing, and it is a fair prediction that the laws
in Florida will be changing. The biggest impact will be on families,
particularly families with young children. Married couples make
decisions everyday for one spouse, usually the wife, to stay home with
the children rather than go back to work. When this decision is made, it
is usually a joint decision based on the current financial situation of
the family, and the welfare of the children. What it does for women and
men is halt their careers and creates a lapse in their career
development that typically cannot be regained or takes years to do so.
But most families would agree these decisions are made with the best
interest of their children in mind, and the children certainly benefit.
So,
moving forward, is Florida's position that the spouse staying home with
their children should be punished in a divorce by strictly limiting
their ability to collect alimony and child support? Only time will tell
during next year's legislative session, but it is clear that
stay-at-home moms and dads will no longer have the financial protections
the current alimony statutes provide if the Alimony Reform movement
succeeds. We’ll keep you posted on these developments here on the blog.
Learn more about alimony and it’s possible issues here: http://www.jacksonvillebeachlawyer.com/jacksonville-beach-family-law-attorney/florida-alimony-lawyer.html
No comments:
Post a Comment