How Much Spousal Support Do I Have to Pay?
How much spousal support do I have to pay? This question is difficult to answer because the amount is left up to the discretion of a judge, and does not have a set formula like child support does. Factors in the decision include the particular rules in your state, you and your spouse’s financial means, and the amount of child support.
Spousal support is also called alimony. It is designed to help out the partner with less means of financial support. Originally, it was the husband paying the wife because the man was viewed as at fault for the marriage not continuing and also because the man was the bread winner. If the woman caused the marriage to fail, then she did not get any alimony. Of course, things change over time. Now, alimony is paid to the ex-spouse who makes less money than the other.
Spousal support used to be granted according to who was at fault, but now we have a no-fault system, except in New York. Now, alimony is conditional and fault is a major factor in the decision making process.
Spousal support falls into two categories: permanent and temporary. If the marriage lasted a long time, then permanent alimony is often the case. Temporary support will go to the party who has a monetary need for a limited length of time, like in cases of a disabled child or when the spouse is unemployed and is seeking employment or getting training for employment.
How Much Spousal Support Do I Have to Pay?
When a judge is deciding on whether or not alimony will be granted and how much it will be, he or she can not be biased because of gender. Because of the US Supreme Court ruling on this, many more men are asking for alimony and it is being awarded to them. This is only one consideration when asking, “How much spousal support do I have to pay?”
Permanent alimony is less and less the norm today. It hinders a person from making a new start, and after a few years, most people can recover and move on. One of the reasons for temporary alimony is because one party supported the other while they were training for a career or while they were getting established in their career.
The only person who can answer the question, “How much spousal support do I have to pay?” is the judge in charge of your divorce. However, divorce lawyers can probably give you a ball park figure. Remember, it depends on the state laws and how the judge interprets them, fault, the earning potential of both parties, the length of the marriage, and child support. For example, it both parties can afford it, joint custody is an option.
A loose estimate of the length of time that spousal support would be paid is one third the amount of time the parties were married. In some states, that could rise to 50%. Alimony may not be an option if the marriage was very short.
Reasons for Divorce
Reasons for divorce have changed over the years. In the old days, it was granted because of cruelty, adultery, desertion, alcoholism, or impotence. Either the wife or the husband had to be at fault. By the Baby Boom generation, reasons expanded to include separation, incompatibility, and mental illness. If your state did not allow for divorce, then you filed in another state. Soon, it was realized that if two people wanted to divorce, then they had the right to do so and no-fault divorce became the norm almost everywhere.
Today, over 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. This trend is partly explained by more women working, people are willing to try again with someone different, and there is less of a stigma attached to divorce. Some of the main reasons for divorce include: communication, infidelity, a change in priorities, sexual problems, and simply lack of commitment. Causes that are less common are addiction, being disappointed in the other partner, and abuse, which can be sexual, physical, or mental.