CS/CS/HB 565 - Family Law Summary

• Redefines "marital assets and liabilities" to include the marital portion of passive appreciation of nonmarital real property, calculated using statutory formulas unless a court finds the formulas inequitable in the particular circumstances.

• Authorizes courts to require security and reasonable interest rates for installment payments in asset distribution and requires written findings documenting any deferred payments.

• Changes "permanent alimony" to "long-term alimony" and establishes marriage duration categories: short-term (7 years or less), moderate-term (greater than 7 but less than 17 years), and long-term (17 years or greater), with courts able to aggregate years if parties married more than once.

• Requires courts to make written findings regarding incomes and factors in alimony awards, creates a rebuttable presumption that both parties will have lower standards of living post-dissolution, and establishes that reasonable retirement constitutes substantial change in circumstances as a matter of law.

• Prohibits separate adjudication of dissolution issues within 180 days of filing except for exceptional circumstances; allows separate adjudication after 180 days; and requires separate adjudication after 365 days absent showing of irreparable harm.