How Is Alimony Calculated?

How is alimony calculated? Alimony is spousal support and is meant to financially help the spouse with less income. A brief history of divorce will be helpful in answering this question. 

Before the 20th century, the reasons a divorce was granted included adultery, desertion, regular inebriation or impotence, and cruel or abusive treatment.  Basically it had to be the fault of one of the parties. By the middle of the 1900s, states began to recognize no-fault reasons to dissolve marriages, including incompatibility, separation, and loss of sanity.  

Because some states still had only a few reasons for divorce, many couples would file for divorce in another state. Gradually, no-fault divorces became much easier to obtain. In the United Kingdom, a judge could simply issue a divorce decree when a marriage was clearly over. States in the US soon followed suit. Many blame the high divorce rate in the 1980s on this legislation, but the causes were more likely to include more women working, divorce being more socially accepted, and general attitudes of looking for a better life.  

Alimony

The typical case of alimony involves an ex-husband paying his ex-wife a certain amount of money for a certain amount of time. In some states, the reverse will happen if the ex-wife was the major breadwinner. This can also affect custody arrangements, because if both parties have financial means, they may share joint custody of the children.

There are two general types of alimony payments.

• Permanent alimony is awarded where the marriage was lengthy, or where the parties are elderly or disabled.
• Temporary alimony goes to the spouse who has financial need for a certain amount of time until she (or he) can support herself or while she cares for a child who has a disability.

Years ago, alimony was paid to the woman because it was assumed that the marriage would have continued except for the bad behavior of the man. If the woman was the guilty party, she was not awarded any alimony. When no-fault divorce laws started being passed by many states, the alimony laws also changed. 

Alimony was considered a right of the injured party in the fault-based system, but was now conditional in the no-fault system. New York is the only state that has not passed a no-fault divorce law. In the District of Columbia and 25 states, fault is a contributing factor in the decision of awarding alimony.    

How Is Alimony Calculated?

The United Supreme Court ruled in the 1970s that there was to be no gender bias in the awarding of alimony. The percentage of alimony payments going to males rose to 3.6 percent in 2006 and men are becoming the recipients of alimony payments more as the stigma of asking for alimony is fading.  

Today, permanent alimony is not being awarded as often because it can prevent a spouse from starting over. Part of this is that States and judges are realizing that after a divorce, you may not be able to have the same standard of living. If one party supported the other while he or she advanced their career; that is often grounds for alimony payments to be awarded for a certain amount of time.

Alimony is not a simple mathematical equation like child support but is left up to the discretion of the judge. So, it is impossible to answer the question, “How is alimony calculated?” It depends on the rules of your state, how they are interpreted, financial means, and other factors. In some states, fault is still a factor, but in most states, alimony depends on obvious need, like in the cases of medical or financial issues.

As far as the amount of time alimony payments will be made, the general rule of thumb is to award the spouse who has need financial support for one third of the time of the length of the marriage. In some states it can be as high as 50 percent. This has a bearing on the answer to the question, “How is alimony calculated?” 

There is usually no minimum requirement on the length of the marriage. However, the judge will look at many factors, including dependents, assets, health, earning potential, and child support and may consider the length of the marriage in making a decision. In the case of a very short marriage, it may not be worth the trouble and lawyer’s fees to pursue alimony payments.