Rehabilitative alimony is when a court orders one spouse to support the other for a limited time so they can become self-sufficient. When deciding on this, the court looks at certain factors, but also considers other things not listed in the law. This article looks at cases from the past 10 years to see how courts have decided on this type of alimony. It only looks at the first time alimony is ordered, not when it’s changed later. If you want to see a chart of Florida alimony cases from the last 10 years, email stephanie@asbellho.com. The chart is divided into two sections: cases where the alimony award was upheld, and cases where it was overturned. Each section is organized by district and in reverse chronological order. Some cases are highlighted in different colors to show if permanent alimony or other types of alimony were also awarded, or if the rehabilitative alimony was denied because it didn’t affect the spouse’s ability to work. The Canakaris v. Canakaris case is important in Florida alimony law because it set the guidelines for rehabilitative awards, but courts can still consider other factors when making these decisions. A rehabilitative alimony award is still based on presenting a detailed plan for becoming employable. In some cases, the plan must include specific details about the spouse’s education and costs, and show that they will earn more money after the rehabilitation period. The length of the marriage is also considered, as it can impact the spouse’s ability to become self-sufficient. When one spouse gives up or delays their career or education to support their partner, it can impact their ability to find a job later on. This can happen if they stayed home to take care of children or helped their partner advance in their career. In some cases, the court may order the other partner to help support the spouse who gave up their career by providing them with money to go back to school or get training so they can find a job. This is called rehabilitative alimony, and it’s meant to help the spouse become self-sufficient again. In simple terms, when arguing for or against rehabilitative alimony in a divorce, it’s more important to focus on whether the marriage affected the ability of one spouse to find a job, rather than just how long the marriage lasted. Some examples from court cases show that even in short marriages, a spouse may not receive rehabilitative alimony if their ability to work wasn’t impacted by the marriage. The court has denied rehabilitative alimony to spouses in short-term marriages if they haven’t shown any harm to their ability to support themselves. However, in some cases, even in short-term marriages, a spouse can still get rehabilitative alimony if they can show that the marriage caused them harm in becoming self-supporting. The age of the spouse is not the main factor in deciding on rehabilitative alimony, but the recipient spouse’s ability to be rehabilitated plays a big part. It’s possible for older spouses to still receive rehabilitative alimony if they can show that they can be retrained to become self-sufficient. When a court is deciding whether to award rehabilitative alimony, they consider factors like the difference in income between the spouses, whether one spouse stayed home to take care of the children, and the health of the spouse requesting alimony. If one spouse makes a lot more money than the other, they may be required to pay rehabilitative alimony to help the other spouse become financially independent. If one spouse stayed home to take care of the children, they may be granted permanent alimony instead of rehabilitative alimony. And if the spouse requesting alimony has poor health, the court may grant permanent alimony instead of rehabilitative alimony. Recent case law lacks analysis on how the health of the recipient spouse affects the award of rehabilitative alimony. The focus is on the rehabilitative plan and the impact of the marriage on the recipient spouse’s employability. Courts may or may not consider agreements between spouses when deciding on alimony awards. In some cases, agreements made during the marriage did not convince the courts to award permanent alimony. In other cases, courts have been required to consider agreements when determining whether permanent or rehabilitative alimony is more appropriate. The Blanchard v. Blanchard case showed that agreements made between spouses during marriage may not affect the type of alimony awarded after a divorce. The standard of living during the marriage can impact the decision of whether to award rehabilitative alimony, but it is not the most important factor. In Mobley v. Mobley, a long marriage with a high standard of living resulted in a permanent alimony award instead of rehabilitative alimony. Overall, the court considers various factors when deciding on alimony, and mutual decisions during the marriage may not have a big influence. In some divorce cases, the court may award alimony to help one spouse adjust to single life after the marriage ends. This can be either rehabilitative alimony, which helps a spouse get training or education for a new job, or bridge the gap alimony, which helps with short-term needs. The amount of alimony awarded depends on how long the marriage lasted and the standard of living during the marriage. This is important in “gray area” marriages, which are longer and when permanent alimony is not awarded. The goal is to make sure both spouses can maintain a similar lifestyle after the divorce. The Fourth District Court was the first to allow alimony to “bridge the gap” between a high standard of living during a short marriage and a more modest standard after. The Third District and First District also recognized this type of alimony, and the Second District made a distinction between rehabilitative and bridge the gap alimony. It wasn’t until recently that the Fifth District Court also approved this type of award. In 2007, the Fifth District Court recognized that it can be frustrating for a judge not to have a way to give short-term financial support to a spouse after a divorce. They found that bridge the gap alimony could be given to help with the transition to single life, similar to rehabilitative alimony. This type of alimony is now considered an important option in divorce cases. It’s important for lawyers to consider this type of alimony and present a specific plan to show why it’s needed. Without a plan and evidence that the marriage affected the recipient spouse’s ability to find work, rehabilitative alimony will not be awarded. Victoria Ho and Janiece Martin wrote about trends in permanent alimony for divorces involving older couples, while Victoria Ho and James F. Caudill discussed trends in rehabilitative alimony. Victoria M. Ho and Stephanie A. Sussman continued the discussion in a later article. The factors appellate courts consider for rehabilitating alimony awards have been organized to help readers understand arguments for or against such awards. The court may also consider other factors to ensure fairness between the parties.
In simpler terms, these articles talk about how alimony (financial support after a divorce) is decided in court, especially for older couples and in cases where one spouse may need help getting back on their feet. The authors analyze what factors courts consider when making these decisions. Some Florida courts used to say that plans for rehabilitative alimony had to be in writing, but now they can be spoken or written. This change has been shown in cases like Layeni v. Layeni and Alpha v. Alpha. The length of the marriage doesn’t always matter when awarding rehabilitative alimony, as seen in Martire v. Martire, where a less than one-year marriage still resulted in an award of rehabilitative alimony. This is a list of court cases from Florida where alimony (money paid after a divorce) was discussed. The cases talk about factors like age, education, and ability to work when deciding how much alimony should be paid. Some cases have different opinions about these factors, so the final decision can vary. In the past 10 years, there have been fewer court decisions about a type of alimony called rehabilitative alimony. In 1998-2004, there were 4-6 decisions each year, but in 2006 there was only 1 decision, and in 2007 there were none.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/appellate-court-trends-in-rehabilitative-alimony-10-years-later/
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