Alimony · FL
Florida alimony and spousal support calculator
Since the 2023 reform, Florida has no permanent alimony and caps durational alimony both in amount and in years.
Rules read on official Florida pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Income counted
- Net income
- $8,000 vs $3,000 a month
- $1,750
- a month under the rule
- 12-year marriage
- 86.4 months
- Rules read on
- October 8, 2026
Florida durational alimony is the lesser of the receiving spouse's reasonable need and 35% of the difference between the two net incomes (Fla. Stat. § 61.08(8)(c)). On $7,500 and $3,500 of monthly net income, that ceiling is $1,400 a month. Its length depends on the marriage, measured from the wedding to the filing of the petition: at most 50% of a short marriage (under 10 years), 60% of a moderate one (10 to 20 years) and 75% of a long one (20 years or more), so a 14-year marriage allows 8.4 years. No durational alimony follows a marriage under 3 years. Bridge-the-gap alimony is limited to 2 years and rehabilitative alimony to 5 years with a written plan. Permanent alimony was removed from the list of available forms for cases pending or filed from July 1, 2023, and the law applies to all initial petitions filed or pending on that date.
Estimated spousal support in Florida, per month
$1,750
Duration: up to 86 months
| Difference between net incomes | $5,000 |
| Cap: 35% of the difference | $1,750 |
| Marriage category | moderate-term |
| Longest durational term | 86.4 months |
Durational alimony is the lesser of the receiving spouse's reasonable need and 35% of the difference between the two net incomes; this result is the ceiling.
Bridge-the-gap alimony lasts at most 2 years and rehabilitative alimony at most 5 years; permanent alimony is no longer available.
A moderate-term marriage allows durational alimony for at most 60% of its length, unless exceptional circumstances are shown by clear and convincing evidence.
Estimate under the Florida formula as published; eligibility, the judge's findings and an agreement between spouses decide the real order. How this is calculated.
What the 2023 law took away
Before July 1, 2023, a long Florida marriage could end with permanent periodic alimony. Chapter 2023-315 rewrote § 61.08 and left four forms only: temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative and durational. The change applies to every initial petition for dissolution pending or filed on or after that date, so older judgments keep their permanent awards while new cases cannot get one. The law also turned the marriage-length categories into rebuttable presumptions and attached a hard percentage to each.
| Marriage | Length | Durational alimony, at most |
|---|---|---|
| short-term | 3 to under 10 years | 50% of the marriage |
| moderate-term | 10 to under 20 years | 60% of the marriage |
| long-term | 20 years or more | 75% of the marriage |
Need first, then the 35% ceiling
The court starts with two findings: does the requesting spouse actually need support, and can the other pay? Only then does it look at the factors of § 61.08(3) and pick a form. For durational alimony the amount is the reasonable need, unless 35% of the net income gap is lower. Net income follows the child support definition in § 61.30, without counting support already ordered between the spouses. Take a spouse netting $7,500 a month and another netting $3,500, married 14 years: the gap is $4,000, the ceiling $1,400, the longest term 100.8 months. Change the marriage to 24 years and the ceiling stays the same while the term grows to 216.0 months. With 2 years of marriage the term falls to 0: durational alimony is simply unavailable.
A second guardrail, § 61.08(9), says the award may not leave the payer with significantly less net income than the recipient unless the judge writes down exceptional circumstances. A judge can extend durational alimony beyond the percentage only on clear and convincing evidence about the recipient's age, resources, disability or care of a disabled common child.
Short forms
Bridge-the-gap alimony covers identifiable short-term needs during the move to single life, for at most 2 years, and cannot be modified in amount or length. Rehabilitative alimony lasts at most 5 years and requires a specific plan of education, training or work experience; it can end early when the plan is completed or ignored. Adultery and its economic impact may be weighed in the amount.
The Florida rule this calculator applies
Scope. Alimony on dissolution of marriage under Fla. Stat. § 61.08 as amended by ch. 2023-315, Laws of Florida, applying to all initial petitions pending or filed on or after July 1, 2023 (§ 61.08(11)). Forms: temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, durational; permanent alimony is no longer listed.
Amount. Durational alimony amount (§ 61.08(8)(c)): the lesser of the obligee's reasonable need or 35 percent of the difference between the parties' net incomes, net income computed under § 61.30(2) and (3) and excluding spousal support paid under a court order in the action. § 61.08(9): the award may not leave the payor with significantly less net income than the recipient without written findings of exceptional circumstances. No percentage cap is set for bridge-the-gap or rehabilitative alimony.
Duration. § 61.08(5): rebuttable presumption that a short-term marriage is < 10 years, moderate-term 10 to 20 years, long-term 20 years or longer, measured from the date of marriage to the date of filing. § 61.08(6): bridge-the-gap alimony may not exceed 2 years. § 61.08(7)(c): rehabilitative alimony may not exceed 5 years and requires a specific rehabilitative plan. § 61.08(8)(a)-(b): durational alimony is not available after a marriage of less than 3 years and may not exceed 50% of the length of a short-term marriage, 60% of a moderate-term marriage, or 75% of a long-term marriage, unless extended under exceptional circumstances by clear and convincing evidence.
Eligibility. § 61.08(2)(a): the court first determines whether the party seeking alimony has an actual need and the other party has the ability to pay; the requesting party bears the burden of proof. § 61.08(3) then lists the factors (duration of marriage, standard of living, age and health, resources and income, earning capacity, contributions, child responsibilities, other factors). Adultery and its economic impact may be considered (§ 61.08(1)(a)).
Worth knowing in Florida
- Bridge-the-gap alimony is capped at 2 years and can be modified neither in amount nor in duration (§ 61.08(6)). source
- Marriage length for alimony runs from the wedding to the date the dissolution petition is filed, not to the final judgment (§ 61.08(5)). source
- The court may order the payer to buy life insurance or a bond to secure alimony only on specific findings of special circumstances (§ 61.08(4)). source
- Durational alimony ends on the death of either party or remarriage of the obligee, and its length may be changed only in exceptional circumstances (§ 61.08(8)(a)). source