Modifying Florida Child Support & Alimony: Fla. Stat. § 61.14 (2026)

By Nadia Pazos, Family Law Attorney, Pazos Law Group · Updated August 2026

Fla. Stat. § 61.14 is the statute that decides whether an existing Florida child support or alimony obligation can be changed — and how an unpaid one gets collected. It is titled “Enforcement and modification of support, maintenance, or alimony agreements or orders,” and it covers both halves of that title.

What Does Fla. Stat. § 61.14 Actually Say?

The official catchline of the statute is “Enforcement and modification of support, maintenance, or alimony agreements or orders.” It sits in Chapter 61, Dissolution of Marriage; Support; Time-Sharing, and it does two jobs at once: it is the door to changing an existing support or alimony obligation, and it is one of the main tools for collecting one that is not being paid.

The operative sentence is in § 61.14(1)(a). When the parties have an agreement or a court order for support, maintenance or alimony, and “the circumstances or the financial ability of either party changes or the child who is a beneficiary of an agreement or court order as described herein reaches majority,” then “either party may apply to the circuit court … for an order decreasing or increasing the amount of support, maintenance, or alimony.” The court then “has jurisdiction to make orders as equity requires, with due regard to the changed circumstances or the financial ability of the parties or the child.”

Two structural points follow immediately. First, § 61.14(2) makes this the exclusive route: “No person may commence an action for modification of a support, maintenance, or alimony agreement or order except as herein provided.” Second, § 61.14(3) states that the section “is declaratory of existing public policy and of the laws of this state.”

How Do I Modify Child Support or Alimony in Florida?

You file a supplemental petition for modification in the circuit court. § 61.14(1)(a) is specific about which circuit court: the circuit “in which the parties, or either of them, resided at the date of the execution of the agreement or reside at the date of the application, or in which the agreement was executed or in which the order was rendered.” Child support amounts are then recalculated under § 61.30; alimony factors live in § 61.08.

What counts as changed circumstances under § 61.14(1)(a)?

The statute itself names two examples and leaves the rest to the court’s equity jurisdiction: “A finding that medical insurance is reasonably available or the child support guidelines schedule in s. 61.30 may constitute changed circumstances.”

There is also a separate, purely arithmetic trigger for cases the Department of Revenue reviews. Under § 61.14(1)(d), for each support order the department reviews as required by § 409.2564(11), if the ordered amount “differs by at least 10 percent but not less than $25 from the amount that would be awarded under s. 61.30, the department shall seek to have the order modified and any modification shall be made without a requirement for proof or showing of a change in circumstances.”

Can a support modification be retroactive in Florida?

Yes, within limits set by the statute. § 61.14(1)(a) provides that, except as otherwise provided in § 61.30(11)(c), the court “may modify an order of support, maintenance, or alimony by increasing or decreasing the support, maintenance, or alimony retroactively to the date of the filing of the action or supplemental action for modification as equity requires.” The practical consequence is that the filing date, not the hearing date, is what fixes the earliest possible relief — a strong reason not to wait after a job loss or income change.

Note also § 61.14(4): if a party seeks a reduction and the circumstances justify it, “the court may make the reduction of alimony or child support regardless of whether or not the party applying for it has fully paid the accrued obligations to the other party at the time of the application.” Being behind does not by itself bar a downward-modification request.

Can Alimony End Because of a Supportive Relationship? (§ 61.14(1)(b))

Yes, and the statute is mandatory rather than permissive on this point. § 61.14(1)(b)1. says the court “must reduce or terminate an award of support, maintenance, or alimony upon specific written findings by the court that a supportive relationship has existed between the obligee and a person who is not related to the obligee by consanguinity or affinity.”

§ 61.14(1)(b)2. allocates the proof. “The burden is on the obligor to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that a supportive relationship exists or has existed in the 365 days before the filing of the petition”; if that is shown, the burden shifts to the obligee. The court must make written findings on the § 61.08(3) factors plus eleven additional factors lettered a. through k. — among them whether the two have “held themselves out as a married couple,” how long they have lived together, whether they pooled assets or accounts, and whether either performed valuable services for the other.

§ 61.14(1)(b)3. is careful about what this does not mean: the paragraph “does not recognize a common law marriage as valid, and does not recognize a de facto marriage,” and expressly states that “the existence of a conjugal relationship is not necessary for the application of this paragraph.”

Does Retirement Reduce Alimony Under § 61.14(1)(c)?

It can. § 61.14(1)(c)1. lets the court reduce or terminate alimony on written findings that “the obligor has reached normal retirement age as defined by the Social Security Administration or the customary retirement age for his or her profession and that the obligor has taken demonstrative and measurable efforts or actions to retire or has actually retired.” The obligor carries the initial burden by a preponderance of the evidence; if the court finds the retirement reduces the ability to pay, the burden shifts to the recipient.

§ 61.14(1)(c)2. lists ten factors the court must address in writing, including the obligor’s age and health, the customary retirement age in the profession, “the obligor’s motivation for retirement and likelihood of returning to work,” the economic impact on the recipient, and “the obligor’s compliance, in whole or in part, with the existing alimony obligation.”

Timing is governed by § 61.14(1)(c)3.: “In reasonable anticipation of retirement, but not more than 6 months before retirement, the obligor may file a petition for modification of his or her support, maintenance, or alimony obligation, which shall be effective upon his or her reasonable and voluntary retirement as determined by the court.” That six-month window is one of the few hard deadlines in the section.

How Does Florida Enforce Unpaid Support Under § 61.14(5)–(6)?

What is the ability-to-pay presumption in a contempt hearing?

§ 61.14(5)(a) requires the court, when it first enters an alimony or child support order, to “make a finding of the obligor’s imputed or actual present ability to comply with the order.” If payments later stop, “the original order of the court creates a presumption that the obligor has the present ability to pay the alimony or support and to purge himself or herself from the contempt,” and at the hearing “the obligor shall have the burden of proof to show that he or she lacks the ability to purge.” The statute adopts this as a presumption under § 90.302(2) and ties it to the policies in § 409.2551 and § 61.08. The court “shall state in its order the reasons for granting or denying the contempt.”

What if the person owing support is unemployed?

§ 61.14(5)(b) gives the circuit court a work-search remedy in enforcement proceedings under Chapter 61, Chapter 88, Chapter 409 or Chapter 742. Where payments are delinquent and the obligor “is unemployed, underemployed, or has no income but is able to work or participate in job training,” the court may order the obligor to seek employment, file periodic reports detailing those efforts, notify the court or the department upon obtaining employment or property, and participate in job training or work programs available under Chapter 445 or Chapter 446. An obligor who willfully fails to comply “may be held in contempt of court.”

When does an unpaid installment become a judgment by operation of law?

§ 61.14(6)(a)1. provides that where payments run through the local depository or the State Disbursement Unit, any unpaid installment becomes, after notice and the response period, “a final judgment by operation of law, which has the full force, effect, and attributes of a judgment entered by a court in this state for which execution may issue.”

The notice trigger is in § 61.14(6)(b)1.: “When an obligor is 15 days delinquent in making a payment or installment of support and the amount of the delinquency is greater than the periodic payment amount ordered by the court, the local depository shall serve notice on the obligor.” The obligor then has 15 days after service is complete to move to contest, and under § 61.14(6)(c) may do so “only on the ground of a mistake of fact regarding an error in whether a delinquency exists, in the amount of the delinquency, or in the identity of the obligor.” The court must hear that motion within 15 days of filing under § 61.14(6)(d), which also directs the depository to charge interest at the rate established in § 55.03 and to apply payments “first to the current child support due, then to any delinquent principal, and then to interest.”

Is It Harder to Modify a Settlement Agreement Than a Court Order?

No. § 61.14(7) settles the question in one sentence: “When modification of an existing order of support is sought, the proof required to modify a settlement agreement and the proof required to modify an award established by court order shall be the same.” A marital settlement agreement incorporated into a final judgment under § 61.052 is not insulated from modification of support.

When Does Child Support End Under § 61.14(9)?

§ 61.14(9): “Unless otherwise ordered by the court or agreed to by the parties, the obligation to pay the current child support for that child is terminated when the child reaches 18 years of age or the disability of nonage is removed.” The same subsection adds that termination of current support “does not otherwise terminate the obligation to pay any arrearage, retroactive support, delinquency, or costs owed by the obligor.”

In Title IV-D cases, § 61.14(10)(a) keeps the payment rate intact after emancipation: the obligor “shall continue to pay at the same rate in effect immediately prior to emancipation until all arrearages, retroactive support, delinquencies, and costs are paid in full or until the amount of the order is modified,” with the excess credited against what is owed. § 61.14(10)(b) applies the same rule when one of several children emancipates — but only if the order allocates support per child.

Can a Temporary Support Order Be Changed Before the Final Judgment?

Yes, and on an easier showing. § 61.14(11)(a) allows a court, “upon good cause shown, and without a showing of a substantial change of circumstances,” to “modify, vacate, or set aside a temporary support order before or upon entering a final order in a proceeding.” Under § 61.14(11)(b) that change may reach back to the date the temporary order was entered, to the date the initial petition (including a paternity petition) was filed, or to a date prescribed in § 61.14(1)(a) or § 61.30(11)(c) or (17).

What Happens to a Workers’ Compensation Settlement?

§ 61.14(8)(a) requires that when an employee and employer reach a lump-sum settlement under § 440.20(11), no proceeds and no attorney’s fees may be disbursed until a judge of compensation claims reviews the proposed disbursement and enters an order finding that the settlement “provides for appropriate recovery of any support arrearage.” The employee must submit a written statement from the department about unpaid support, and the judge may also require a statement from the local depository established under § 61.181. Under § 61.14(8)(b), compensation under Chapter 440 is otherwise exempt from garnishment and assignment “except for the purposes of enforcing child or spousal support obligations.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Official Sources & Related Reading

• Fla. Stat. § 61.14, Enforcement and modification of support, maintenance, or alimony agreements or orders — official text (Online Sunshine)
• Fla. Stat. § 61.30, Child support guidelines — official text
• Fla. Stat. § 61.08, Alimony — official text
• Florida Family Law Forms — flcourts.gov
• Florida Department of Revenue Child Support Program
• Fla. Stat. § 61.30 — Florida Child Support Guidelines
• Fla. Stat. § 61.08 — Florida Alimony Types & Factors
• Fla. Stat. § 61.1301 — Income Deduction Orders
• Fla. Stat. § 61.16 — Attorney’s Fees in Modification Cases
• Divorce Modification — Practice Area

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.