If you or our spouse is seeking spousal support, you may wonder how spousal support is calculated and if there are any special challenges. A knowledgeable alimony lawyer can educate you on these issues.
Calculating Temporary Alimony
The purpose of temporary spousal support is to preserve, at the greatest extent possible, the couple’s financial status quo. When calculating temporary spousal support, courts generally use formulas and input numbers into a computer program to arrive at an amount. An experienced alimony lawyer can help you determine what formula the court uses and provide you with an estimate of temporary spousal support.
Calculating Long-Term Alimony
The purpose of alimony after divorce is finalized is to help the supported spouse maintain a standard of living close to the marital standard. The ultimate goal is for that spouse to become self-supporting. When determining final spousal support, the court must take into consideration the factors set forth in Family Code 4320, such as:
- Supported spouse’s marketable skills;
- Job market for those skills;
- Time and expense the supported spouse needs to acquire education or training for employment or enhanced employment;
- Extent of supported spouse’s unemployment periods because of domestic duties during the marriage that impaired that spouse’s present and future earning capacity;
- Extent the supported spouse contributed to the other spouse’s education, training, professional licensing, or career advancement;
- Ability for the supporting spouse to pay support, taking into consideration that spouse’s earning capacity, earned and unearned income, assets, and standard of living;
- Needs of each party based upon marital standard of living;
- Each spouse’s obligations and assets, including separate property;
- Duration of marriage;
- Ability of the custodial parent to engage in gainful employment without unduly interfering with dependent children’s interests;
- Each spouse’s health and age;
- Any documented history of domestic violence or abusive spouse’s criminal conviction;
- Immediate and specific tax consequences to each spouse;
- Balance of each spouse’s hardships;
- Supported spouse to be self-supporting within a reasonable time; and,
- Any other factors the court determines are equitable and just.
A seasoned alimony lawyer can help you maximize the alimony you deserve.
Special Challenges
Courts may be faced with special challenges when analyzing your marital standard of living.
Frugal Lifestyle
The court must decide whether the marital lifestyle is consistent with the same level of unusual frugality. If the couple accumulated savings and other investments then the court can set alimony consistent with the modest lifestyle to permit for savings.
Living Beyond Financial Means
Some couples live well beyond their means, accumulating debt. In these situations, the court will typically view the spouses’ income rather than debt. Living bey
Workaholic Spouse
When one spouse works very long hours that cannot be maintained in the long run, the court has the discretion to order alimony based upon reasonable work hours. An alimony lawyer can review your circumstances and help you obtain complete evidence to fully support your position.
An Alimony Lawyer Can Help
If you are seeking alimony or if your spouse is seeking spousal support, contact a skilled alimony lawyer with the Law Offices of Rick D. Banks at
(559)222-4891 for assistance.
