A new type of alimony

 Florida statute was recently amended to add a new type of alimony: ‘durational alimony.’

 This type was added to fill a gap between ‘rehabilitative alimony’ and ‘permanent periodic alimony.’ While the statute doesn’t give us much direction, other than to say this alimony can last as long as the marriage has lasted, we are not seeing that happen in court.

 What I have seen happen is the court awarding approximately 50 percent of the duration of the marriage. In other words, if the marriage lasted ten years, then the spouse would get five years of alimony. This percentage has been confirmed in several seminars that I have attended.

 I question this because the statute does not say anything other than the fact that the alimony can last as long as the marriage. Hopefully we will receive more guidance from the appellate courts in the future.