Alimony legislation.

As a 30-year attorney, a member of Florida Alimony Reform, and a lifetime alimony payer, I want to dispel the notion that the Family Law Section speaks for The Florida Bar in general (it does not and cannot) or the majority of Florida lawyers in opposing HB 231, which is in fact crafted to bring Florida's alimony laws into the 21st century.

Notwithstanding Family Law Section Chair Carin Porras' assertion that "Florida laws are among the most progressive in the nation, having been extensively overhauled in 2010 and 2011," those amendments apply only to dissolution actions commenced after July 2010 and July 2011 respectively. As a result, there are thousands of lifetime alimony payers who are laboring under the burden of a statute enacted in the middle of the last century under far different economic and social circumstances.

HB 231 is modeled on a nearly identical statute enacted into law in Massachusetts in 2012 (without opposition from the Massachusetts Family Law Bar) which will treat all alimony payers and recipients equally and will eliminate uncertainty in the alimony process so that payers and recipients can move on with their lives in a fair and reasonable manner.

HB 231 is good public policy and many Florida attorneys, whether...