Is There Still Permanent Alimony in Florida? What Replaced It, and What That Means for You

Last reviewed October 30, 2026 by Good Life Legal.

Quick Answer: Is there still permanent alimony in Florida?

No, not for new cases. Florida eliminated permanent alimony effective July 1, 2023, when the Legislature rewrote the alimony statute, Fla. Stat. § 61.08. Four forms of alimony exist now:

• Temporary: support while the case is pending
• Bridge-the-gap: a short transition, capped at 2 years
• Rehabilitative: funds a defined plan back to self-support, capped at 5 years
• Durational: support for a set period, tied to the length of the marriage

You are not really asking about alimony. You are asking whether you will be okay.

If you were married for twenty or thirty years, and you are reading about alimony now, the question underneath is probably not legal at all. It is about security. The house, the retirement, the health insurance, the years you spent holding a home together while the paycheck came in under someone else's name.

Here is the first honest thing to know: the law changed in 2023, and a great deal of what you will find online still describes the old version. Pages written before July 2023 talk about permanent alimony as if it still exists. For new cases, it does not.

That is not a reason for alarm. The current law still provides real support after a long marriage. It just has a different shape, and the shape is learnable. This page walks through it one step at a time. There is no deadline on anything here.

Is there still permanent alimony in Florida?

Not for new awards. A 2023 law rewrote Florida's alimony statute, Fla. Stat. § 61.08, effective July 1, 2023, and permanent alimony no longer exists for new cases. The rewritten statute applies to divorce cases that were pending or filed on or after July 1, 2023 (Fla. Stat. § 61.08(11)).

What exists instead is a set of four defined forms of alimony, each built for a specific job, each with a shape and, for most of them, an end point. The court does not reach any of them automatically. Before awarding any form of alimony, the judge must first find that one spouse has an actual need for support and that the other spouse has the ability to pay it (Fla. Stat. § 61.08(2)).

If that sounds colder than the old law, consider what it offers in exchange: the current framework runs on definitions and caps you can actually read and plan around. For someone whose whole question is security, a number you can see is worth more than a promise you cannot. Part of what we do in a first conversation is simply put the current law next to your real facts, so you are planning on the law as it is, not as a ten-year-old article described it.

What replaced permanent alimony?

Four forms, each with its own job (Fla. Stat. § 61.08). The short version:

1. Temporary alimony. Support while the case itself is pending, so the household keeps running until the divorce is final.
2. Bridge-the-gap alimony. Short-term help with identifiable, short-term needs while you move from married life to single life. It is capped at 2 years (Fla. Stat. § 61.08(6)).
3. Rehabilitative alimony. Support tied to a specific, written plan to redevelop old skills or get new education or training, so you can support yourself. The statute requires the plan to be specific and defined (Fla. Stat. § 61.08(7)(b)), and this form is capped at 5 years (Fla. Stat. § 61.08(7)(c)).
4. Durational alimony. Support paid for a set period of time. After a long marriage, this is usually the form that matters most, because its length and amount are tied to the marriage you actually lived.

After a long marriage, durational alimony does much of the work permanent alimony used to do. The difference is that it comes with a defined length, and the length depends on how many years you were married.

How long can durational alimony last?

Florida sorts marriages into three bands by length, and the band sets the ceiling on how long durational alimony can run (Fla. Stat. § 61.08):

Two things to read carefully in that table. First, these are caps, not promises. The court sets the actual length within the cap based on your circumstances. Second, the cap can be extended only in exceptional circumstances, and the spouse asking for more must prove them by clear and convincing evidence, one of the law's higher standards. Plan as if the end date is real, because the law treats it that way.

A plain illustration: a 24-year marriage is a long-term marriage, so durational alimony in that case could last up to 18 years. Not automatically, and not as an entitlement, but that is the field the negotiation happens on. For a marriage measured in decades, the field is wide.

How much can durational alimony be?

The amount has a cap too, and it is the single most misquoted number in Florida alimony. The statute says durational alimony may not exceed the lesser of two figures: your reasonable need, or 35 percent of the difference between your net income and your spouse's net income (Fla. Stat. § 61.08(8)(c)).

Read that twice, because almost everyone gets it wrong the first time. It is not 35 percent of your spouse's income. It is 35 percent of the difference between the two net incomes, and even then only if your reasonable need is not the smaller number.

Florida caps durational alimony at the lesser of the recipient's reasonable need or 35 percent of the difference between the spouses' net incomes. Source: Fla. Stat. § 61.08(8)(c) (2026).

One more word matters in that sentence: net. Florida alimony runs on net income, after allowed deductions, never on gross pay. Start the math with the wrong paycheck number and everything downstream is wrong. In practice, getting the net figures right means working from real documents, pay records, tax returns, retirement statements, not from memory or estimates. That document work is quiet and unglamorous, and it is where an accurate alimony case is actually built. It is also a place where having someone do it carefully, once, pays for itself.

If you have read this far and the math is starting to feel personal, that is a reasonable moment to stop reading and start asking about your own numbers. An article can give you the framework; it cannot tell you what your marriage's years and your household's incomes add up to. We can, and because we work on fixed fees, you will know the number before you start, in writing. Call Good Life Legal at 850-362-7228, or complete the form on this page and we will call you.

Questions we hear about the new alimony law

Does the 2023 law erase an existing permanent alimony award?
The rewritten statute applies to divorce cases that were pending or filed on or after July 1, 2023 (Fla. Stat. § 61.08(11)). It did not, by itself, rewrite older final judgments. What an older award means for your situation depends on your own judgment and its terms, and that is a conversation to have with a lawyer, not a question a web page can answer for you.

Is alimony based on gross income or net income?
Net income. The durational amount cap is measured against the difference between the spouses' net incomes (Fla. Stat. § 61.08(8)(c)), with net income determined the same way Florida's child support law determines it (Fla. Stat. § 61.30(2)-(3)). Gross pay is not the number.

Can durational alimony be extended after it is set?
Only in exceptional circumstances, proven by clear and convincing evidence (Fla. Stat. § 61.08). That is a deliberately high bar. The safest planning assumption is that the end date in the order is the end date.

Does adultery still affect alimony in Florida?
Florida is a no-fault state, so adultery is not a ground for divorce and proving it is not required. The alimony statute does allow the court to consider the adultery of either spouse, and any resulting economic impact, in setting the amount (Fla. Stat. § 61.08). It is an economic question, not a punishment.

Key Takeaways

• Permanent alimony no longer exists for new Florida cases. The change took effect July 1, 2023, and applies to cases pending or filed on or after that date (Fla. Stat. § 61.08).
• Four forms exist now: temporary, bridge-the-gap (2-year cap), rehabilitative (5-year cap, defined plan required), and durational.
• Durational alimony's length is capped by marriage length: 50% for marriages under 10 years, 60% for 10 to 20 years, 75% past 20 years, and none at all for marriages under 3 years.
• The amount is capped at the lesser of reasonable need or 35% of the difference between the spouses' net incomes, and the math runs on net income, never gross (Fla. Stat. § 61.08(8)(c)).

Your First Step, When You Are Ready

The old law is gone, and the new one is knowable. After a long marriage, your security question has real answers: a durational framework tied to the years you were married, an amount cap you can calculate from real numbers, and a process that starts whenever you decide it starts, not before. When you are ready, the first step is small: a free 10-minute phone conversation where you will learn your options and whether we are the right fit. The price of your case, if you go forward, is fixed and in writing before you hire us. Call Good Life Legal at 850-362-7228, or complete the form on this page and we will call you.