During divorce, family law courts consider several factors when determining whether to award alimony and the amount of the payments. These factors include the length of the marriage, each spouse’s income, and the standard of living before the divorce.
Spousal Support is a form of rehabilitative assistance, meaning that it is intended to help the recipient acquire the skills and education necessary to become self-supporting. It can also be used to support a stay-at-home parent who cares for children.
A spouse’s ability to pay alimony is the most important factor when determining a support award. The court must be sure that the payor has enough income to live comfortably, and that they can provide for the other spouse’s needs during the divorce.
Another consideration is how long the parties were married, and how much time it would take for a spouse to become self-supporting. If one spouse has more earning capacity than the other, the court may order a higher payment to encourage that person to work.
If you are going through a divorce and need help determining your alimony or child support rights, it is critical that you contact a divorce lawyer in Miami who has experience in this area. A skilled lawyer can evaluate all of the facts surrounding your situation to determine which factors weigh in favor of alimony and what steps you can take to ensure that you receive what you are entitled to.
Often, people are confused about how alimony works and what it is awarded for. While there is no specific formula in most states, courts have the power to decide if and how much to award.
The court will generally try to set a weekly alimony amount that would accomplish the division of net income in a fair and equitable manner. This might be a 50-50 split, depending on the specific circumstances. If the couple has custody of their children, the court may try to divide assets in a way that will make it easier for the spouse with primary custody to take care of them.
A divorce court judge can also set conditions on the duration of spousal support payments. These could be anything from a five-year cap to a requirement that support be paid until the paying spouse dies.
When a court awards spousal support, it also has the authority to terminate it if there are changes in the receiving spouse’s situation. This can occur if the recipient spouse loses his or her job, or if the paying spouse suffers a major financial downturn, such as a recession.
This can affect the alimony amount and how long it will last, since it will be impossible to predict when a recipient will find new employment. If this occurs, the court will consider how that change in circumstance might affect the recipient’s ability to support himself or herself, and if the change is due to a hardship, the spousal support payment might be reduced.