Fort Lauderdale, Florida - Broward County
Fort Lauderdale Alimony Attorney
Spousal support argued on documented income and documented need, not on round numbers.
Alimony is where Fort Lauderdale divorces most often stall, because income here is frequently not a salary. Yacht brokerage and marine-trade commissions, real estate closings, restaurant and hospitality seasons, professional practices, tips and owner distributions all produce a number that moves month to month. A support figure built on a strong quarter, or on a deliberately quiet one, is the wrong figure.
Our work on these cases is documentary. We reconstruct actual earnings and standard of living from tax returns, K-1s, merchant processing records, bank deposits and business books, then match them against a realistic budget for the household going forward. That analysis is what a judge can rely on, and what makes a negotiated resolution possible before trial.
Florida law was rewritten in 2023: permanent alimony is no longer available, and awards now fall into temporary, bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative or durational categories, with duration tied to the length of the marriage. Whether you expect to pay or to receive, the categories and the caps shape the entire negotiation.
How support is decided in Broward
- Claims are heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit at the Broward County Courthouse in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
- The court first asks whether one spouse has an actual need and the other has the ability to pay, then which type and how much.
- Statutory factors include the standard of living during the marriage, the length of the marriage, each spouse's age, health, earning capacity, education and employability, and each spouse's contribution to the marriage, including homemaking and child care.
- Both parties file sworn financial affidavits, and both are subject to mandatory financial disclosure. Understated income is a recurring fight in this county, and it is won with records.
- Temporary support can be ordered while the divorce is pending.
Fort Lauderdale questions we hear
For the full statewide overview of this area of law, see our alimony page.