What is Permanent Alimony?

Permanent periodic alimony is alimony for life in Florida. Unless it is modified or terminated. So if you are requesting or agreeing to permanent alimony – it means just that- permanent!

And you thought “til death do us part,” would cease to be once your divorce was finalized. Permanent periodic alimony allows your spouse to collect from you through recurring payments, at a set amount until one of you dies, or the receiving spouse remarries.

The purpose of permanent periodic alimony is to supplement the needs and necessities for living that were established during the marriage. Notice however, that permanent periodic alimony is NOT trying to make the parties financially equal, or to distribute a future income of the paying spouse. Instead, the amount to be paid is dependent on the factors laid out in section (2) of the Florida alimony statute. Once the court weighs the factors, they will come up with an alimony amount, and how often the paying spouse has to pay.

Permanent periodic alimony is usually awarded when one party has been out of the work force for a long period of time, and therefore cannot self-support after the dissolution of marriage.

The Court looks at the length of marriage – 17 years is the magic number, and if it is over 17 years, it the burden shifts to the payor to prove that this form of marriage is not appropriate. Call us to talk about the specifics and all of the complicated issues that come up in either requesting permanent alimony, defending against an alimony claim or dealing with a permanent alimony modification request.