Miami Herald Logo

Veto of Alimony Reform Bill good move | Miami Herald

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Site Information
    • Contact Us
    • About Us
    • Herald Store
    • RSS Feeds
    • Special Sections
    • Advertise
    • Advertise with Us
    • Media Kit
    • Mobile
    • Mobile Apps & eReaders
    • Newsletters
    • Social
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Instagram
    • YouTube

    • Sections
    • News
    • South Florida
    • Miami-Dade
    • Broward
    • Florida Keys
    • Florida
    • Politics
    • Weird News
    • Weather
    • National & World
    • Colombia
    • National
    • World
    • Americas
    • Cuba
    • Guantánamo
    • Haiti
    • Venezuela
    • Local Issues
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • In Depth
    • Issues & Ideas
    • Traffic
    • Sections
    • Sports
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Pro & College
    • Miami Dolphins
    • Miami Heat
    • Miami Marlins
    • Florida Panthers
    • College Sports
    • University of Miami
    • Florida International
    • University of Florida
    • Florida State University
    • More Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Auto Racing
    • Fighting
    • Golf
    • Horse Racing
    • Outdoors
    • Soccer
    • Tennis
    • Youth Sports
    • Other Sports
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • The Florida Influencer Series
    • Sections
    • Business
    • Business Monday
    • Banking
    • International Business
    • National Business
    • Personal Finance
    • Real Estate News
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Tourism & Cruises
    • Workplace
    • Business Plan Challenge
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Cindy Krischer Goodman
    • The Starting Gate
    • Work/Life Balancing Act
    • Movers
    • Sections
    • Living
    • Advice
    • Fashion
    • Food & Drink
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Pets
    • Recipes
    • Travel
    • Wine
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Dave Barry
    • Ana Veciana-Suarez
    • Flashback Miami
    • More Living
    • LGBTQ South Florida
    • Palette Magazine
    • Indulge Magazine
    • South Florida Album
    • Broward Album
    • Sections
    • Entertainment
    • Books
    • Comics
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Music & Nightlife
    • People
    • Performing Arts
    • Restaurants
    • TV
    • Visual Arts
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Jose Lambiet
    • Lesley Abravanel
    • More Entertainment
    • Events Calendar
    • Miami.com
    • Contests & Promotions
    • Sections
    • All Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Op-Ed
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Jim Morin
    • Letters to the Editor
    • From Our Inbox
    • Speak Up
    • Submit a Letter
    • Meet the Editorial Board
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Blogs & Columnists
    • Blog Directory
    • Columnist Directory
    • Andres Oppenheimer
    • Carl Hiaasen
    • Leonard Pitts Jr.
    • Fabiola Santiago
    • Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Place an Obituary

    • Place an ad
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Apartments
    • Auctions/Sales
    • Automotive
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Employment
    • Garage Sales
    • Legals
    • Merchandise
    • Obituaries
    • Pets
    • Public Notices
    • Real Estate
    • Services
  • Public Notices
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Real Estate
  • Mobile & Apps

  • el Nuevo Herald
  • Miami.com
  • Indulge

Letters to the Editor

Veto of Alimony Reform Bill good move

There have recently been attempts to reform Florida’s alimony laws. The stated goal was to create uniformity and predictability in determining alimony. The unspoken purpose was to eliminate permanent alimony.

The latest alimony reform bill vetoed by Gov. Scott included ambiguous language about children spending “approximately equal amounts of time with each parent.”

Scott vetoed the bill because he thought it changed the standard for determining the amount of time that a child would spend with each parent and that it put the wants of the parents before the best interest of the child by creating a presumption in favor of equal timesharing.

I’m a past president of the Florida Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts. We presented seminars on the equal timesharing presumption, but we could not find any mental health professionals in favor of it.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

The Family Law Section of The Florida Bar opposed the latest bill because of the equal timesharing presumption language.

The current law does exactly what it should do — it directs a judge to allocate the time between the parents based upon the best interest of the child, not upon what the parents selfishly want.

Given the widespread opposition to an equal timesharing, it does not seem likely that such a change will be made to the law in the near future.

Scott has vetoed two alimony reform bills that were passed by the Legislature in the last few years. I anticipate that it will be presented again next year, but probably not with the equal timesharing presumption.

The vast majority of divorces are settled, including alimony issues.

While there is a benefit to having alimony guidelines, I’m not sure that amending the alimony statute is in the best interest of Florida’s families because it seems that it will cause as many problems as it will resolve.

Robert J. Merlin,

Coral Gables

  Comments  

Videos

Baby born on a JetBlue flight

Plane with humanitarian aid sent by the U.S. arrives to Colombia

View More Video

Trending Stories

Military planes carrying 180 tons of aid for Venezuelans fly from Miami to Colombia

February 16, 2019 08:00 AM

Here are some of the worst mistakes immigrants make applying for legal papers

February 15, 2019 11:26 AM

Dolphins sign former second-round defensive end and a young cornerback

February 15, 2019 03:30 PM

‘Crazy chick’ didn’t want to sit next to a toddler on a plane. Then came the outburst.

February 15, 2019 03:28 PM

U.S. looks to send food aid to Haiti as violence brews humanitarian crisis

February 15, 2019 06:27 PM

Read Next

‘I had the honor of working with Florence Knoll Bassett’

Letters to the Editor

‘I had the honor of working with Florence Knoll Bassett’

By Joe Feinberg,

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 02, 2019 07:37 PM

The death of Florence Knoll Bassett, even at 101 years old, is a sad event for me as I remember the many years of our design relationship, working on numerous projects.

My company represented a diverse range of European producers of decorative tile and architectural hard surface materials, like marble, granite and travertine.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Miami Herald

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters to the Editor

Education about human trafficking is a must

February 01, 2019 02:54 AM

Letters to the Editor

Fond memories of architect and designer, Florence Knoll Bassett

January 31, 2019 02:29 AM

Letters to the Editor

Miami-Dade septic tanks vulnerable, but working

January 30, 2019 02:13 AM

Letters to the Editor

Let’s keep the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission

January 29, 2019 03:23 AM

Letters to the Editor

How you can help prevent suicides

January 23, 2019 02:46 AM

Letters to the Editor

Miami’s COSMOS helping furloughed federal workers

January 18, 2019 05:19 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Miami Herald App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Public Insight Network
  • Reader Panel
Advertising
  • Place a Classified
  • Media Kit
  • Commercial Printing
  • Public Notices
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story