Understanding Florida's 2023 Alimony Reform
SB 1416 eliminated permanent alimony and reshaped how Florida courts award durational support. What changed, what didn't, and what it means for current orders.
Effective July 1, 2023, SB 1416 substantially rewrote Florida's alimony statute. The most visible change — the elimination of permanent alimony as an available award — was accompanied by a series of technical amendments that materially affect how new cases are analyzed.
Available forms of alimony are now limited to temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational alimony. Durational alimony is capped: 50% of the length of a short-term marriage (under 10 years), 60% of a moderate-term marriage (10 to 20 years), and 75% of a long-term marriage (20 or more years), with limited exceptions.
The court must first make specific written findings of need and ability to pay before awarding any form of alimony, and the statute now specifies the factors governing modification and termination — including a defined framework for supportive relationships under Fla. Stat. § 61.14.
Orders entered before July 1, 2023 remain governed by their original terms and the statute in effect at the time of entry. Whether an existing permanent alimony obligation can be modified continues to turn on the language of the underlying judgment and the substantial-change-in-circumstances standard.