Spousal support or alimony must be decided to be awarded to the spouse that either doesn’t have employment or doesn’t earn as much money as the other spouse and may not be capable of supporting themselves without some kind of financial assistance from the other spouse. Alimony is often awarded by the courts or sometimes is agreed upon by both the spouses. The main reason for this is that the spouse who would receive the alimony payments may have given up a job or some kind of education in order to stay home and take care of children or because their spouse didn’t want them to work while they were married.
Spousal Support Considerations
- Both spouses’ standard of living during the time they were married and how this will change when they are divorced and living separately
- How long the recipient of the alimony would need in order to gain the education or training they would need in order to adequately financially support themselves
- How long of a duration the couple was married for
- The ability of the wage earner to both support themselves and send alimony payments to their ex spouse
- The financial situation, emotional state, age, and health of both of the spouses involved in the divorce proceedings
Once all these things are considered, then the courts and the judge will decide whether or not to grant alimony or spousal support to the spouse with the lower or non-existent income. Typically when a divorce goes through court or any other kind of conflict resolution, there are many issues that need to worked through and resolved. Spousal support or alimony is just one of these issues, and because of this sometimes divorce proceedings can last quite awhile. How long it takes to receive the first alimony payment can be determined by how long it takes for the divorce to be settled or when the judge orders that the alimony be paid. (For example, the judge could state in court that the alimony payments are to be awarded and that the payer must pay the alimony payment by the end of every month beginning with the next month.) The person paying the alimony payments may be able to speed up the process a little if they don’t have a problem with paying the alimony payments and decide to just start making the payments without waiting for a court order.
For more information about spousal support or alimony, divorce proceedings, different types of divorce, how much you should expect to pay in alimony payments, etc. consult with an attorney or visit montesfamilylaw.com.
Works Cited
Reuters, Thomas. “Spousal Support (Alimony) Basics – FindLaw.” Findlaw. Thomas Reuters,
2016. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
