All of the family lawyers in Florida have been extremely concerned about the bill passed by the Florida legislature that would have made major changes in the area of child support and alimony. Refer Ay
o and Iken website.
Alimony reform and proposed changes to child-sharing laws will have to wait another year. Gov. Rick Scott vetoed SB 668 today objecting to a 50/50 time-sharing provision in the bill that would have mandated the courts presume that equal time-sharing between parents is in the best interest of the child.
While Scott opposed the custody provisions, the bulk of the bill dealt with
alimony reform which would, among other things, have provided the courts with established calculation guidelines to determine alimony based on duration of a marriage and incomes of both parties. Scott did not address alimony in his veto letter.
It is the second time Scott has vetoed an alimony reform bill. He last did in 2013, citing a clause in that bill which would have made the law retroactive to all cases.
This year’s bill, which did not have that clause, did have some legislators concerned over lumping alimony reform and equal-time sharing into one bill. At the outset of the session, the issues in both the House and Senate were addressed in separate bills. But as the bills made their way through committees, child-sharing was added to the Senate Bill, which later passed both chambers and made it to the governor’s desk. Here is a portion of Scott’s veto letter discussing his opposition:
“The bill makes various changes to the laws governing the dissolution of marriage, spousal support, and time-sharing. First off, I would like to commend Senators Stargel and Lee, and Representatives Burton and Workman for their diligent efforts to reform Florida’s dissolution of marriage and alimony laws.
Family law issues are very personal, and nearly every family comes to the court with different circumstances and needs. As such, we must be judicious and carefully consider the long term and real life repercussions on Florida families. This bill’s proposed revisions to Florida’s alimony and child custody laws have evoked passionate reactions from thousands of Floridians because divorce affects families in many different ways.
The one constant though is that when a divorce involves a minor child, the needs of the child must come before all others. Current law directs a judge to consider the needs and interests of the children first when determining a parenting plan and time-sharing schedule.
This bill has the potential to up-end that policy in favor of putting the wants of a parent before the child’s best interest by creating a premise of equal time-sharing. Our judges must consider each family’s unique situation and abilities and put the best interests of the child above all else.”
Steven W. Hair, focuses his practice as a divorce attorney, family law attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, and Safety Harbor.
For more information, visit our website at www.FamilyLawClearwater.com
or call (727) 726-0797.