About 80% of all people who get divorced eventually do remarry, and about 10% of every divorce ends with the award or obligation to pay alimony. In Florida, by law, unless it’s agreed to by the parties, an alimony award will stop or the obligation to pay all that money will stop when your ex-spouse remarries. So, what happens in Florida? People don’t remarry and they continue to collect alimony. The question often arises, what if my ex-spouse is dating? Will I still have to keep paying this permanent alimony?
In Florida, the law that governs alimony is Florida Statute 61.14, and that statute provides a recourse for people who have an alimony obligation, and their spouse is not remarried but if they are in a supportive relationship. Dating alone is not enough, but it requires that your ex-spouse be living or residing together with someone and that it be a supportive relationship. You know, the whole idea behind alimony is you are still supporting your ex after you have divorced and for the purpose of support. If someone else is supporting them, by the policy of the law, you should not have to keep doing that.
Now living together and support alone are not enough, there is an exclusion if the person who is living with your ex-spouse and is supporting them happens to be a family member. There are certain technicalities regarding what level family member they can be, but if your ex-spouse remarries, of course then you have the alimony obligation typically extinguish or go away. If they’re dating, there still may be recourse if they are in a supportive relationship.