Will I have to pay lifetime alimony in Florida?

Attorney Tom Olsen: Chrissy, we had a couple of texts; I’m going to take care of those. Here is one, it says, “Has the alimony lifetime payment rule changed or is it planned on changing?” So, here in the state of Florida, depending on how aggressive a lawyer you have, depending on what day of the week it is, depending on what judge you have; if you’re going to have to pay alimony, you might pay alimony for a number of years, you might pay alimony for the rest of your life, until the day you die. It is completely random.

If you think that you’re getting a divorce and you’re going to have to pay alimony, you should be insisting that your alimony ends when you start qualifying for social security, okay? Don’t let the other attorney blow you into paying alimony for the rest of your life. Now, every year the Florida legislature talks about changing the alimony laws and each year they try and it doesn’t happen. But maybe next year may be put into place.

But, really what they’re trying to do is--  for child support here in the state of Florida, it’s all statutory formulas; you plug in numbers, you get the amount of child support you’re supposed to pay. They need to be moving in that direction for alimony here in the state of Florida, rather than making it completely random as to what you might pay and how long you might pay it.