TAVARES, Fla., Feb. 9, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Some 30 members of Florida Alimony Reform (FAR) traveled from around the state today to attend a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on a bill to update the state's antiquated alimony laws. About half a dozen people testified movingly about the blight of permanent alimony before the Committee voted 6 to 0 to support the measure, SB 748, sponsored by Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (R-Miami-Dade), and by Representative Ritch Workman (R-Brevard) in the House (HR 549).
"We are thrilled that the Senate Judiciary Committee voted for this bill, and look forward to continuing to work with legislators on it," said Alan Frisher, co-director and spokesman for FAR, who is a Licensed Financial Advisor and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA). FAR is the nation's largest alimony advocacy organization, and is in negotiations with the Family Section of the Florida Bar Association on the new bill. "Some of our members traveled for the better part of a day to be here and tell senators of the hardships that lifetime alimony imposes on them and their families."
Among those who testified:
- A math professor whose boyfriend is paying permanent lifetime alimony to an educated woman in her mid-40s, after she left the marriage. She refuses to work because she would lose the alimony. If the math professor and her boyfriend marry, their family income can be counted as available resources to raise the ex-wife's alimony, even though the professor supports herself and her own son.
- A man who is paying lifetime alimony of 52 percent of his income, in a marriage that lasted less than 10 years. Alimony was awarded to a healthy 35-year-old woman who had been arrested during the marriage. The judge specifically noted that she must receive permanent lifetime alimony because of her arrest record.
- A 76-year-old man who cannot retire and has been paying alimony for 27 years to a woman who abandoned him and their five children.
The national media have recently begun to cover the Florida problems, with Anderson Cooper devoting an entire show to alimony, and USA Today featuring Florida in a major article. On March 1, Massachusetts' new alimony laws will take effect.
While SB 748/HB 549 as originally have changed as they progress through Committees, FAR is working to insure the final bill will:
- limit the amount and the length of alimony awards;
- change standards for proving cohabitation, so alimony recipients who cohabit instead of marrying, for fear of losing the alimony, will have alimony reduced or ended.
- establish the right of payers to retire at Federal retirement age (currently 66 y. o.) and end payments in most cases.
For more on FAR's efforts to update antiquated laws, visit http://www.floridaalimonyreform.com.
The Florida Alimony Reform logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=11350