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Florida Senate Bill 668

March 9, 2016 Family Law

The Florida Senate Bill 668 has now passed and is on the way to the Governor Rick Scott for his approval.  The bill makes dramatic changes to the Florida Statutes dealing with alimony and child time-sharing.  The revised language in the proposed bill mandates that Florida Judges use a formula to calculate the alimony amount based on the length of the marriage and the income of both parties.  The Judge can deviate from the formula, but he/she must make written findings to explain the deviation.

The Florida Statute 61.13 dealing with child time-sharing, would be changed to provide that it is presumed that each parent should have equal time-sharing with their child, unless there is a showing of detriment to the child.  The statute does provide that a conviction of a misdemeanor of the first degree or higher creates a rebuttable presumption of detriment to the child.  So, one can see that the important of fighting a domestic violence claim in the future will be of the utmost importance.  Unfortunately, there maybe a rise in false domestic violence claims due to this presumption of detriment.

If you would like to read the bill, click here.