What Is the Difference Between Rehabilitative Alimony and Bridge the Gap Alimony?

By now, you have heard that Florida no longer awards permanent alimony, but you were probably not a candidate for alimony anyway.  If your spouse was out of the workforce for most of your marriage, or if her income is a fraction of yours, you will probably have to pay some alimony, but perhaps not for as long as you think.  When possible, the court issues alimony orders with the shortest possible duration for alimony payments.  This way, the former spouses can become financially independent of each other as quickly as possible, and the chances are lower that their disputes over alimony will end up back in court.  Not only is there sometimes room for disagreement about how much spousal support the higher income spouse should pay, but there is sometimes room for disagreement about why.  This might seem like a purely theoretical question, but the courts must first determine why they are awarding alimony before they can calculate how much.  To find out more about how much alimony you can expect to pay in your divorce case, contact a Boca Raton alimony lawyer.

Types of Alimony That Differ in Intent but Not in Duration or Amount

Florida allows courts to award five types of alimony, but two of them, namely lump sum alimony and pendente lite alimony, require the paying spouse to make the final payment on or before the date that the divorce becomes final.  The other types of alimony are simply monthly payments from the higher income spouse to the lower income spouse, namely the following:

• Rehabilitative Alimony – If the recipient spouse has been out of the workforce, rehabilitative alimony pays for her to train to reenter the workforce and covers other expenses until the court reasonably expects her to find a full-time job. Its maximum duration is five years.
• Bridge the Gap Alimony – This is to help the recipient spouse with identifiable and temporary expenses related to the post-divorce period, such as buying a new car or paying the mortgage until her refinance of the former marital home becomes final. Once these expenses are paid, the former spouses are financially independent of each other.
• Durational Alimony – This is for when the recipient spouse’s income is lower than the paying spouse’s and probably always will be. It is to keep the recipient spouse’s lifestyle at a level similar to what the couple had during their marriage.  Its maximum duration is the duration of the marriage.  This means that, if the couple was married for 30 years, the court can order the higher income spouse to pay durational alimony for 30 years, but the amount is modifiable; the higher income spouse can petition the court to reduce it when he retires.

Contact Schwartz | White About Finding Your Financial Footing After Divorce

A South Florida family law attorney can help you if you and your spouse disagree about the type and duration of alimony that you should pay.  Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.

Source:

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