Florida law does allow your spouse to seek alimony payments as part of a final divorce settlement. Depending on the facts of your case, you may need to make payments to your spouse for quite some time. However, it’s also possible that you’ll only need to make payments for a period of several months after the marriage comes to an end.
Factors to consider
Alimony payments may be permanent if you were married for more than a decade or if your spouse is incapable of working because of a disability or old age. Otherwise, a judge may decide to award spousal support payments for a period long enough to allow your spouse to finish school or otherwise solidify his or her financial future. In most cases, you will no longer need to pay alimony if your former spouse cohabitates with or marries another person.
Orders can be modified
Alimony orders can be modified if there is reason to believe that your spouse’s circumstances have changed after a divorce takes place. For instance, if your former partner gets a higher paying job, it may be grounds to modify an existing arrangement. If you are also paying child support to your spouse, you may also be able to get an existing order changed if circumstances warrant such a change.
Ending your marriage may have a significant impact on your finances as you may cede assets to your spouse or be on the hook for legal fees. In addition, you may need to make alimony payments if you were the breadwinner during the marriage or there is reason to believe that you’ll be better off after the divorce for other reasons.