Alimony Laws Have Changed, Here’s What You Need To Know
Alimony is financial support that a person is obligated to pay their former spouse after a divorce. Although alimony orders have declined over time, they still play an integral part in many divorces. So far in 2020, only 10% of divorces have had alimony requests attached. Women are still the majority recipients of alimony payments however, more and more men are also receiving alimony from their former wives. Of the 400,000 alimony recipients in 2010, 12,000 of them were men.
So what’s the big deal, why is alimony still in the picture? Well, as recently as January 2019, alimony laws in Florida have changed. The tax laws now state that the person paying alimony can no longer receive an off-the-top deduction. The recipient, however, will no longer have the alimony payments be seen as income. The new laws only apply to divorces finalized after January 1 of 2019.
So if you’re someone who is going to be paying alimony for many years or perhaps permanently, or if you’re someone who will be receiving alimony, this just got incredibly more important than before. As you can see below, in most alimony cases the calculation for the amount goes as follows. It’s 30% of the payer’s gross annual income, minus 20% of the payee’s gross annual income. This equals the estimated amount that is in question. What’s also taken into account is the length of the marriage. Check out the infographic below to see if you fall into the short, medium, or long-term bracket.
Infographic By Travis Walker Law