NEW YORK, Jan. 5, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The alimony reform movement that's sweeping the country will get a huge boost Monday, January 9, when Anderson Cooper's daytime show, ANDERSON, highlights alimony problems in Florida and across the country. With no guidelines in the current law, Florida alimony awards often last until death, and payments can be more than 70 percent of a payer's income. Even people who work full-time and make handsome salaries are sometimes awarded long-term or lifetime alimony. Permanent alimony is awarded to alcoholics, debtors, those with criminal records, and to women who leave their husbands for other men or women lovers.
ANDERSON is broadcast at different times, beginning at 9AM, and on different networks. Check this site to learn when and where to watch. http://www.andersoncooper.com/page/when-its-on
Among the guests on the January 9 show are Alan Frisher, Co-Director of and Spokesman for Florida's leading reform group, Florida Alimony Reform; Hector Torres of Miami, who was ordered to pay permanent lifetime alimony ten years ago (with no guaranteed end at his retirement), to his healthy, then 32-year-old ex-wife; and a female pediatrician from Florida who started out with a lifetime alimony obligation and then had it adjusted down to 15 years.
The format of the show includes guests speaking about their experiences and Anderson Cooper talking to people in the audience, among them several women opposed to alimony, and to Tom Leustek, Director of New Jersey Alimony Reform. New Jersey has lifetime alimony laws, with no limits on the duration or the amount of payments, very similar to Florida's laws. Advocates in both states hope to follow the Massachusetts' model, where antiquated alimony laws were recently overhauled with the enthusiastic support of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Women's Bar, the American Association of Matrimonial Lawyers, and Stephen Hitner's grassroots organization, Mass Alimony Reform.
On January 4, FAR Co-Director Alan Frisher was interviewed by reporter Lori Brown on WFTV-Channel 9 Orlando, about the need for alimony reform in Florida.
Lawmakers in Florida are currently considering bills in the House and Senate (HB 549/SB 748) that would update laws established when divorce was rare and women did not usually work outside the home. The major provisions of the identical bills include:
* limits on the amount and duration of alimony awards based on income and length of the marriage. Currently, judges decide every case independently. Awards range from no alimony, even to needy individuals, to 70 percent of the payer's income;
* the right of payers to retire at Federal retirement age (currently 66 years old) and end payments in most cases. Currently, there is no guaranteed right to retire and see payments lowered or ended.
* the exclusion of income and assets from second wives in alimony modifications. Currently, if an alimony payer remarries, his new spouse's resources can be considered part of the household income from which alimony can be drawn, if the payer has a change in circumstances (illness, retirement, job loss) and needs to adjust payments.