ALIMONY AND CHILD CUSTODY BILL FILED

State Representative Alex Andrade (“An-Drot-E”) who represents District 2 in northwest Florida, is sponsoring a controversial bill in the Florida Legislature that would end permanent alimony and change child custody law. Andrade said he’s sponsoring the bill because 44 other states don’t have permanent alimony and he wants to create a more predictable alimony system for both parties going through a divorce. Another controversial element of the bill is changing child custody. Currently, a judge decides on custody issues, but a provision in Andrade’s bill requires the judge to start with the presumption that custody should be evenly split between both parents. Two previous versions of the bill have passed the Legislature before in 2013 and 2016, but then Governor Rick Scott vetoed them.