The rest of what we have written about Florida. Every figure is quoted from Florida’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
- The divorce kit
- What it costs to file
- Child custody
- Child support
- Guardians ad litem and child representation
- Travel, custody and relocation
- Alimony
- Protective orders
- Changing your name back
- Legal help you can afford
- Verified professionals
- What Divorce Actually Costs
- What Happens to the House in a Florida Divorce
Dividing property and money in a Florida divorce
The money picture for a divorce in Florida: how property gets divided, what Florida calls spousal support and how it is decided, whether one spouse can be made to pay the other’s legal fees while the case is running, and — the part nobody publishes — whether Florida’s own income tax follows the federal rule on alimony.
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Every claim is traced to Florida’s own statute, court rule or revenue department, quoted where the wording carries the meaning. Where we could not verify something, the page says so instead of filling the space. Information, not legal advice — and tax questions in particular need a professional in your state. Corrections: thecusp.app/corrections.
The short version6 points · tap one to jump to it
- Does Florida follow the federal alimony rule? — Since 2019, federal law has treated alimony as not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient, for any instrument executed after 31 December 2018.
- How property is divided — Florida is an equitable distribution state.
- Alimony — Florida calls it alimony.
- Child support — Florida uses the income shares model — both parents’ incomes go into the calculation, and the result is apportioned between you.
- Who pays for the lawyers — A fee award that only arrives at final judgment is close to worthless to someone who could not afford a lawyer during the case.
- The thing worth knowing about Florida
In this subject 8
Does Florida follow the federal alimony rule?
The short version6 points · tap one to jump to it
- Does Florida follow the federal alimony rule? — Since 2019, federal law has treated alimony as not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient, for any instrument executed after 31 December 2018.
- How property is divided — Florida is an equitable distribution state.
- Alimony — Florida calls it alimony.
- Child support — Florida uses the income shares model — both parents’ incomes go into the calculation, and the result is apportioned between you.
- Who pays for the lawyers — A fee award that only arrives at final judgment is close to worthless to someone who could not afford a lawyer during the case.
- The thing worth knowing about Florida
In this subject 8
Since 2019, federal law has treated alimony as not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient, for any instrument executed after 31 December 2018. Most people assume every state followed. Most did. Not all.
Florida has no personal income tax on natural persons, so state-level conformity to the TCJA’s alimony treatment is not applicable — there is no Florida return on which alimony would be reported, deducted, or added back. Florida’s Department of Revenue tax-type list includes a Corporate Income Tax but no individual/personal income tax.
Source: Fla. Const. art. VII, § 5(a) (‘No income tax shall be levied upon the income of natural persons who are residents or citizens of the state…’); corroborated by the Florida Dept. of Revenue’s tax-types listing, which includes Corporate Income Tax but no individual income tax · source
Nationally: 37 states follow the federal rule, 9 have no income tax, and 4 are decoupled. The full fifty-state table and what each decoupled state does differently.
How property is divided
Florida is an equitable distribution state. That means the court divides marital property fairly, which is not a synonym for equally. What counts as marital rather than separate property is frequently the whole argument.
the court must set apart to each spouse that spouse’s nonmarital assets and liabilities, and in distributing the marital assets and liabilities between the parties, the court must begin with the premise that the distribution should be equal
Source: Fla. Stat. § 61.075(1)
Alimony
Florida calls it alimony. Using the state’s own word matters when you are searching for forms or reading a statute.
There is no guideline calculation. A judge weighs the statutory factors and reaches a number.
This is the norm and it is why alimony is the least predictable figure in a divorce. Two judges can reach different answers on the same facts and both be right. It also means the strength of your evidence about income, earning capacity and the standard of living during the marriage does real work.
In determining whether to award alimony… the court shall first make a specific factual determination as to whether either party has an actual need for alimony… and whether the other party has the ability to pay
Source: Fla. Stat. § 61.08
Child support
Florida uses the income shares model — both parents’ incomes go into the calculation, and the result is apportioned between you.
Whichever model applies, this is the most predictable number in your case — there is a formula and a presumption that its output is correct. Deviating from it takes written findings. Run it early; it is free, and it anchors everything else.
Guideline: Fla. Stat. § 61.30
Who pays for the lawyers
Fee-shifting provision: Fla. Stat. § 61.16(1)
The court may from time to time, after considering the financial resources of both parties, order a party to pay a reasonable amount for attorney’s fees, suit money, and the cost to the other party of maintaining or defending any proceeding
A fee award that only arrives at final judgment is close to worthless to someone who could not afford a lawyer during the case. By then it is over. An interim award is what stops a wealthier spouse winning by attrition.
If you are the lower earner, this is the single most actionable thing on this page. Ask at the first meeting, in these words: “Can we move for an interim award of attorney fees now?” Do not let “we will deal with fees at the end” pass unexamined.
Separately, if custody is contested you may be ordered to pay for a guardian ad litem or a custody evaluator, and the court decides how to split that. What that costs in Florida, and who bears it.
The thing worth knowing about Florida
Florida abolished permanent alimony in 2023: under the current Fla. Stat. § 61.08, durational alimony is capped based on marriage length (generally not exceeding 50% of the length of a short-term marriage, 60% of a moderate-term marriage, and 75% of a long-term marriage), and ‘permanent alimony’ is no longer an available category for petitions filed after the reform’s effective date.