Ali v. Shoukat
After a 249-day marriage was dissolved, the trial court awarded the former wife nine months of bridge-the-gap alimony even though it expressly found she presented no evidence of the time period needed, instead looking to case law (Murray v. Murray) for guidance. The Fifth District reversed the alimony award, holding that section 61.08(6) requires the requesting party to prove specific 'legitimate identifiable short-term needs,' including the duration of those needs, and that precedent cannot substitute for record evidence.
Key facts
- Former wife sought bridge-the-gap alimony following dissolution of a 249-day marriage; trial court awarded nine months of alimony despite finding no evidence in the record established the necessary time period.
- Trial court relied on case law precedent (Murray v. Murray) involving similar marriages to determine the nine-month duration rather than evidence presented at trial.
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Why it matters
The opinion gives family-law practitioners a quotable rule: a bridge-the-gap alimony claimant bears an evidentiary burden to identify both the specific short-term needs and the duration for which they will persist, and… — full analysis with a trial
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