Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Alimony
In the case Stockdale v. Stockdale, 1D2024-1371 (Fla. 1st DCA April 9, 2025), a question arose as to whether a case was considered “pending” under the reformed alimony statute since it was still being appealed after the July 1, 2023 changes to the alimony statutes took effect in Florida. The answer to the question could mean a reversal of an award of permanent alimony, since that was abolished by the statute changes.
In this dissolution of marriage case, the former wife sought permanent alimony. A trial was held before the general magistrate on this issue, and the court granted her request for permanent alimony. However, the court did not enter a recommended order on this until after July 1, 2023 when the alimony statutes were modified to eliminate permanent alimony. Once the recommended order was entered, the former husband filed a motion to vacate the order, arguing that because the action was still pending as of the date the alimony statutes changed, the court could not grant the former wife permanent alimony. His motion to vacate was denied, and he appealed.
The appellate court reversed, holding “Because the final judgment awarding permanent alimony had yet to be entered on July 1, 2023, and no alimony payment was due and owing, Wife did not have a substantive vested right to alimony payments. And because the petition remained pending after the Legislature amended the alimony statute to eliminate permanent alimony, the trial court reversibly erred when it entered the final judgment awarding permanent alimony to Former Wife. We REVERSE the judgment and REMAND for proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
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