Alimony and Spousal Support
Whether you ever expected your marriage to end in divorce or not, alimony and spousal support are part of the cost of entering into a marriage. Alimony payments, also referred to as “spousal support,” is money paid to an ex-spouse who earned substantially less money than you did. While alimony is not typically awarded to ex-spouses at the end of a short-term marriage, couples who were together for more than just a handful of years are subject to the terms of alimony.
Many people think of alimony as an “old school” practice, when in fact it is still alive and well in the American divorce system. Alimony has been in practice for more than 100 years in order to offer support to an ex-spouse for standard living expenses.
Alimony often has limits for the duration that it will be carried out, which is why it is necessary to have an experienced divorce lawyer on your side when dissolving a marriage. For the sake of this post, let’s assume that a husband and wife are divorcing and that the ex-wife will receive alimony.
The wife’s current income will determine how much alimony she will receive, if any. A stay-at-home mother will typically receive alimony simply because she has not had a means of earning her own income. Therefore, it will be necessary for the ex-husband to supplement income. However, this will not necessarily be for an indefinite amount of time. A judge may require the wife to make some changes in her life and work. For example, she may be required to find employment. This is not always the case, which means that the wife needs good representation in order to ensure that she receives the benefits that she needs, especially if children are involved and the ex-wife is granted custody. If the ex-husband refuses to pay alimony, it will be imperative that the ex-wife take immediate legal action to enforce the order through a “contempt” proceeding.
At Boudreaux Law Firm, we have an experienced family law attorney who will be on your side. We will closely examine all relevant factors so that the correct monetary payments to or from your ex-spouse are put into place. Contact our office in Augusta for compassionate, skilled, and experienced representation.
Posted on behalf of Boudreaux Law Firm
