"He'll have to pay me for the rest of his life." I still hear that sentence in my office — from people who haven't looked at Florida's alimony law since it changed.
It's an easy mistake to make. For decades, "permanent alimony" really was permanent — a spouse could be ordered to pay support until death, remarriage, or a major change in circumstances, sometimes for twenty or thirty years after a marriage ended. That's not how Florida works anymore, and walking into a divorce still believing the old rule can cost you — whether you're the one who might receive support, or the one who might pay it.
The Reform Nobody Told You About
On July 1, 2023, Florida enacted SB 1416, rewriting Florida Statute §61.08 and eliminating permanent alimony completely. It wasn't a small tweak — it was the biggest change to Florida's alimony law in a generation, and it now governs nearly every divorce case moving through the courts in Jacksonville and across Northeast Florida.
The idea behind it was straightforward: alimony should help a spouse become self-supporting again, not create a lifetime financial tie between two people who are no longer married. Every alimony award in Florida now has to have an end date, built into the order from the start.
The Four Types of Alimony Left
With permanent alimony off the table, Florida courts can only choose from four time-limited categories, and each one works differently:
What Florida Courts Can Still Award
Temporary alimony — support while the divorce case itself is still pending in court.
Bridge-the-gap alimony — helps with the short-term transition to single life. Capped at 2 years, and it cannot be modified in amount or duration once awarded.
Rehabilitative alimony — funds a specific, written plan to rebuild job skills or finish an education or training program. Capped at 5 years, and the plan has to be spelled out in the court order.
Durational alimony — the closest thing to "long-term" support left, but strictly capped based on how long you were married.
Not sure which type applies to your situation — or whether you even qualify? That's exactly what a free consultation is for.
How Durational Alimony Is Capped
Durational alimony is where most of the confusion lives, because it's the type people mistake for the old "permanent" alimony. It isn't. Florida law ties the maximum length directly to how long you were married, under Florida Statute §61.08(8):
Marriage Length & Durational Alimony Limits
Marriages under 3 years generally do not qualify for durational alimony at all.
Marriages under 10 years: durational alimony cannot exceed 50% of the length of the marriage.
Marriages between 10 and 20 years: capped at 60% of the marriage length.
On top of the time cap, the amount itself is limited too — the payment generally cannot exceed 35% of the difference between what each spouse takes home, under §61.08(9). Courts can go beyond these limits only in genuinely exceptional circumstances, supported by clear and convincing evidence — not simply because one spouse would prefer more.
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Whether you're planning for alimony you may receive, or preparing to negotiate what you might pay, knowing these numbers before you're in a courtroom changes everything.