Florida Divorce Modification Attorney: Changing Alimony, Child Support & Time-Sharing After Judgment

By Nadia Pazos, Family Law Attorney, Pazos Law Group · Updated June 4, 2026  ·  ← Home

A Florida divorce judgment is not always the last word. When life changes in a substantial way, Florida law lets you ask the court to modify alimony, child support, and the parenting plan. But the standard is demanding, and the type of order determines what can and cannot be changed. This page explains exactly what qualifies, what does not, and how a post-judgment modification works in Miami-Dade.

What Can — and Cannot — Be Modified

Florida treats different parts of a divorce judgment very differently when it comes to changing them later:

• Child support — modifiable. Recalculated under the guidelines in Fla. Stat. § 61.30 when circumstances change.
• Alimony — sometimes modifiable. Durational and rehabilitative alimony can be modified in amount under Fla. Stat. § 61.14; bridge-the-gap alimony cannot be modified at all.
• Time-sharing and parenting plan — modifiable on a heightened standard under Fla. Stat. § 61.13 and Wade v. Hirschman.
• Equitable distribution of property — final. The division of assets and debts under Fla. Stat. § 61.075 generally cannot be reopened except through a timely appeal or a motion for relief from judgment for fraud under Florida Family Law Rule 12.540.

The Core Standard: Substantial Change in Circumstances

Every modification turns on one question: has there been a substantial change in circumstances since the last order? For support and alimony, Florida courts apply a long-settled, four-part gloss on Fla. Stat. § 61.14. The change must be:

• Substantial — significant in size, not trivial;
• Material — bearing directly on need or ability to pay;
• Permanent — not a temporary or short-term fluctuation; and
• Involuntary — not deliberately created by the party seeking the change.

The change also must not have been contemplated at the time of the final judgment. If the parties already knew a raise, retirement, or graduation was coming and built it into the agreement, that event usually cannot later be used as the basis for modification.

Modifying Child Support

Child support is the most commonly modified order because it is tied to a formula. Under Fla. Stat. § 61.30(1)(b), the guidelines themselves can establish a substantial change: if the difference between the existing monthly obligation and the amount that would be ordered under the current guidelines is at least 15 percent or $50, whichever is greater, the court may treat that as a substantial change in circumstances.

Typical triggers include:

• A significant, involuntary change in either parent’s income (job loss, disability, a substantial raise);
• A change in the actual overnight time-sharing schedule, which directly affects the guideline calculation;
• New or ended daycare or health-insurance costs for the child; or
• A child aging out, where there are multiple children on one order.

Florida’s Department of Revenue can also administratively review orders and, under Fla. Stat. § 61.14, seek modification when the guideline amount differs by at least 10 percent and $25 — a lower threshold than the court route, but limited to DOR cases.

Modifying Alimony After the 2023 Reform

Whether alimony can be modified depends first on its type under the 2023 reform (SB 1416), which eliminated permanent alimony for cases going forward:

• Bridge-the-gap alimony is not modifiable in amount or duration under Fla. Stat. § 61.08.
• Rehabilitative alimony can be modified or terminated based on a substantial change, completion of the rehabilitative plan, or non-compliance with it.
• Durational alimony can be modified in amount on proof of a substantial change under Fla. Stat. § 61.14; its length generally cannot be increased except under limited, exceptional circumstances.

The 2023 reform also created two specific grounds to reduce or terminate alimony:

• Supportive relationships. Under Fla. Stat. § 61.14(1)(b), if the recipient is in a supportive relationship or has cohabited with someone, the court may reduce or terminate alimony — the reform shifted the burden toward the recipient to prove alimony should continue.
• Retirement. When the paying spouse reaches normal retirement age as defined for Social Security purposes (or the customary retirement age for their profession), they may petition to reduce or terminate alimony, with the court weighing the factors the Florida Supreme Court identified in Pimm v. Pimm, 601 So. 2d 534 (Fla. 1992), now reflected in the statute.

Modifying Time-Sharing and the Parenting Plan

Changing a parenting plan is the hardest modification to win, by design — Florida values stability for children. The controlling case is Wade v. Hirschman, 903 So. 2d 928 (Fla. 2005), which requires a substantial, material, and unanticipated change in circumstances, after which the court applies the best-interests test under Fla. Stat. § 61.13(3) and its 20 factors.

Examples courts have accepted include documented parental unfitness that arose after the original order, a parent’s sustained refusal to follow the existing plan, a material change in the child’s needs, or a substantial geographic move. A parent who wants to relocate with the child more than 50 miles for 60 or more days must follow the separate relocation procedure in Fla. Stat. § 61.13001, including written notice and the other parent’s 20-day window to object.

Note the interaction with the 2023 reform: Fla. Stat. § 61.13(2)(c) now starts every analysis from a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the child’s best interests. That presumption can matter in a modification when a parent who originally received minority time seeks a more equal schedule.

What Does Not Qualify

Some of the most common reasons people want a modification will not, by themselves, succeed:

• Voluntarily quitting or under-employing. A self-created drop in income is not involuntary; courts can impute income at your prior earning capacity.
• Temporary setbacks. A short layoff or a few slow months is not a permanent change.
• Anticipated events. If the change was foreseeable and built into the original judgment, it usually cannot be revisited.
• Disagreement with the original deal. Regret about the settlement is not a change in circumstances.

The Modification Process in Miami-Dade

A modification is a new legal proceeding filed within your existing case:

• File a Supplemental Petition to Modify in the circuit that entered your judgment — in Miami-Dade, the 11th Judicial Circuit.
• Serve the other party, who may file an answer and counter-petition.
• Exchange financial disclosure (mandatory for any support or alimony issue under Florida Family Law Rule 12.285).
• Attend mediation, which is typically required before a contested hearing.
• Hearing or trial if the parties cannot agree, where the moving party carries the burden of proof.

One timing point matters: under Fla. Stat. § 61.14, the court can make a modification retroactive to the date the petition was filed. Waiting to file does not protect you — if your income drops, filing promptly preserves your ability to roll the new amount back to the filing date.

Frequently Asked Questions

The information on this page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading or sharing this content does not create an attorney-client relationship with Pazos Law Group. Florida law and the application of statutes change over time; please consult a licensed Florida attorney about your specific situation.