The law, which went into effect July 1, restricts the ability of women (and sometimes men) to collect alimony for the rest of their lives for marriages that ended after July 1. While payment agreements in the past were the result of tough negotiations between tougher lawyers, the new law sets clearly defined limits on how long anyone can expect to make or receive alimony payments after a marriage goes south.
Lawyers say they are getting flooded with questions from ex-wives and ex-husbands worried (or hoping) that the new law will affect the agreements they reached. The answer, attorneys said, is — probably not.
For short-term marriages, those lasting less than a decade, alimony payments can no longer last more than half the term of the marriage. Those who were married a decade, for example, can expect their payments to end after five years.
“Moderate” term marriages lasting up to 20 years can expect alimony lasting 60% of the term of the marriage.
For long-term marriages like the South Florida senior’s, alimony can last 75% of the length of the marriage.
Source: Sun Sentinel
