Spousal support, also referred to as alimony, refers to recurring monthly payments that are made by one spouse to the other spouse when the couple becomes separated or files for divorce.
The court is charged with determining the amount of alimony that should be paid to the receiving spouse. It does this by analyzing a number of different factors, such as:
Some other important details about a marriage that factor into the court’s decision of whether to award alimony or not include:
Depending on which party you are (e.g., the supporting or receiving spouse), you will have to demonstrate either your need for alimony or the other spouse’s ability to support themselves without your financial assistance.
For example, to make a strong case for not having to pay alimony, you should prove that your spouse has a solid paycheck and can take care of themselves without your support. Alternatively, if they require more education or training to become self-sufficient, find a way to show that alimony should only be temporary.
On the hand, if you are the receiving spouse, then you will want to show that your need for alimony is essential. For instance, if you do not currently have a job, have sacrificed your career for the other spouse (e.g., to take care of the household, relocated to an undesirable place for their job, etc.), or are unable to maintain your current lifestyle without their financial assistance.
The length of the marriage is another key factor that can affect the final court order. While a court can still award alimony even if it was a short marriage, the general rule of thumb is that the longer the marriage was, the more likely it is that a spouse will receive alimony.
In sum, to make a strong case for spousal support, you will either have to demonstrate a concrete need for alimony or provide valid reasons as to why your spouse should not receive alimony. Both spouses can do this by submitting sufficient evidence to the court, such as a list of assets, bank account statements (e.g., joint and individual), and a marriage certificate to prove the length of the marriage.
In order to prepare for a strong spousal support case, each spouse should begin by making a list of assets that contains the value of each of the assets on the list. This will make it easier to figure out what types of documents each spouse will have to collect to either show their need to receive alimony or to argue against having to make alimony payments to the other spouse.
For example, if a spouse is requesting alimony, then they should provide financial documents that prove they are dependent on their spouse. On the other hand, the supporting spouse should find documents that prove the other spouse either makes enough money at their job and does not require alimony payments. Alternatively, they can show they do not have the means to support both themselves and their soon-to-be former spouse.
In addition to gathering documents related to the divorce case (e.g., marriage certificate, separation agreement, etc.), the parties should also be prepared to hand over personal documents, such as:
The parties should also be sure to collect all legal documents that may be relevant to their case and could potentially be used as evidence. This may include:
In some cases, a party may need to make changes to certain legal documents. For example, if their current spouse is listed as the beneficiary on their insurance policy and they want to remove them due to the divorce.
The more information that each of the parties gather, the quicker the alimony case will go since the parties will not have to spend as much time organizing all of these materials.
Lastly, each spouse should search for and hire a divorce lawyer as soon as possible. A lawyer will not be able to meet with a spouse once they have already met with the other party. The parties may also want to consider retaining their own financial planners to deal with the forthcoming financial changes.
As previously mentioned, strong cases for alimony are able to demonstrate a clear and absolute need for spousal support payments. Thus, many of the documents that a requesting spouse should gather before meeting with an alimony attorney are those that demonstrate this need.
For instance, spouses who stay home to take care of the household and their family members should provide documents that prove they rely on the working spouse’s income. This may include:
Basically, any financial statements or records that demonstrate the need for spousal support. Some other examples include:
Individuals meeting with an alimony lawyer should also draw up a list of questions they have for their lawyer. For instance, if they have not officially hired the alimony lawyer yet, then they should ask them questions about billing and how they plan on handling their case.
On the other hand, if they have already retained a lawyer’s services, then they should ask them any questions they have about the case or about alimony in general (e.g., how does alimony affect personal tax returns, etc.).
All of the factors that were discussed above will assist in building a strong case for spousal support, namely, documents that prove there is either a need or no need for alimony payments, depending on which party is reviewing this information.
A weak spousal support case, however, will prove exactly the opposite. For instance, if a spouse is claiming they need spousal support, but in reality, can actually support themselves because they have a good salary, then this can make their case for alimony payments weak.
In contrast, a spouse who claims they should not have to pay spousal support may have a weak case if the other spouse can prove that they rely on their income. The other spouse can also weaken their case by demonstrating that they do not have the proper skills or ability to secure a solid paying job like the supporting spouse.
Spousal support cases that may benefit the most from an alimony attorney’s help include the following types of cases:
Spousal support attorneys are most often needed in the following situations:
Thus, if any of these factors apply to you and your spouse’s situation, then you may want to hire a local family attorney to handle your alimony case. You may also want to hire an alimony attorney if you are unsure of the laws or how to manage an alimony case.
An attorney who has experience in dealing with spousal support cases can explain the relevant alimony laws in your state as well as the necessary legal procedures to obtain a spousal support order. In addition, your lawyer can help you build a persuasive case and draft any required legal documents. Your lawyer can also perform legal research that is relevant to your matter and can provide representation in court.
LegalMatch Legal Writer
Jaclyn started at LegalMatch in October 2019. Her role entails writing legal articles for the law library division, located on the LegalMatch website. Prior to joining LegalMatch, Jaclyn was a paralegal and freelance writer. After several years of working for both criminal defense and entertainment law firms, she enrolled in law school. While in law school, her law journal note was selected for first-round publishing, and can be found on various legal research databases. Jaclyn holds a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, specializing in both intellectual property law and data law; and a B.A. from Fordham University, majoring in both Journalism and the Classics (Latin). You can learn more about Jaclyn here. Read More
Jaclyn started at LegalMatch in October 2019. Her role entails writing legal articles for the law library division, located on the LegalMatch website. Prior to joining LegalMatch, Jaclyn was a paralegal and freelance writer. After several years of working for both criminal defense and entertainment law firms, she enrolled in law school. While in law school, her law journal note was selected for first-round publishing, and can be found on various legal research databases. Jaclyn holds a J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, specializing in both intellectual property law and data law; and a B.A. from Fordham University, majoring in both Journalism and the Classics (Latin). You can learn more about Jaclyn here.