JusticeXpress Florida — Alimony Eligibility & Duration Organizer

Florida Family Law · Interactive Tool

Florida Alimony Organizer

See which forms of alimony your marriage length puts on the table, the maximum duration the statute allows, and the factors a judge actually weighs — under Florida’s 2023 reform (Fla. Stat. §61.08).

1 Your marriage timeline

Date of marriage From your marriage certificate.

Date the divorce was (or will be) filed The statute measures length to the filing date, not the divorce date.

Not filed yet — use today’s date as the filing date for an estimate.

Your marriage

2 Which forms of alimony are on the table

Form	Available here?	Maximum length	Purpose

Optional: estimate the statutory amount ceiling

For durational alimony only, the statute caps the amount at the lesser of the recipient’s reasonable need or 35% of the difference between the parties’ net monthly incomes. Enter net income — gross pay minus taxes, FICA, mandatory retirement, and other allowable deductions under §61.30(2)–(3). Two people with the same salary can have very different net figures, so a rough guess here produces a rough ceiling.

Higher earner’s net monthly income ($)

Lower earner’s net monthly income ($)

3 The factors a Florida judge weighs (§61.08(3))

Before any award, the court must first find that one party has an actual need and the other has the ability to pay. Only then does it weigh these factors and make written findings:

Length of the marriage
Standard of living established during the marriage
Age and physical, mental, and emotional condition of each party
Resources and income of each party (marital and nonmarital)
Earning capacity, education, vocational skills, and employability
Time needed to acquire education or training for employment
Contributions to the marriage (homemaking, child care, career-building of the other)
Responsibilities each will have for any minor children
Tax treatment and consequences of any award
Any other factor necessary to do equity and justice

What this tool can’t tell you

Whether you’ll get (or pay) anything at all. Alimony starts with a need-and-ability finding. If the court doesn’t find both, the analysis ends and the claim is denied — regardless of marriage length.
The actual dollar amount. The governing number is the recipient’s “reasonable need,” which a court determines on the evidence. The 35% figure is only a ceiling, not a target.
Whether the caps will be exceeded. Under exceptional circumstances — age, disability, caregiving for a disabled child — a court can extend durational alimony beyond the percentage caps on clear and convincing evidence.
Which form fits your facts. Bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, and durational serve different purposes and can be combined. Choosing among them is a strategy question for a lawyer, not a calculator.

Turn this into a plan

The numbers above are the statutory boundaries. What happens inside them — whether there’s a need, how “reasonable need” gets proven, which form to pursue — is where a limited-scope or full-representation attorney earns their fee. We can route you to a consultation, or help you organize the financial disclosure the court will require either way.

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JusticeXpress Florida, LLC is a non-attorney legal document preparation and self-help service. We are not a law firm, we are not your lawyer, and we cannot give legal advice, select forms for you, or tell you what a court will decide. This tool provides general published legal information based on Fla. Stat. §61.08 (2023) and organizes facts you supply; it does not evaluate your case or produce a legal opinion. Statutory figures are maximums and starting points, not guarantees. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed Florida attorney.