How Alimony Works

It is important to know how alimony works in order to understand possible alimony modification, alimony calculation, alimony default, and what to do with existing spousal support agreements. Alimony is also referred to as spousal support and it is an obligation in divorce law that forces one spouse to support the other spouse financially throughout a marriage and sometimes even after a divorce or separation. Divorce law is based on the premise that a couple has an absolute obligation to support each other during a marriage or a civil union unless they have been legally separated. In many instances, the obligation to continue to support one another continues following separation or divorce. Alimony is granted by the judge presiding over a divorce case and does not have to grant alimony if he or she doesn’t feel that it is necessary. Either spouse is allowed to ask for post-marital alimony but it is not an absolute right for either spouse. If post-marital alimony is granted by the judge, the terms of the agreement and the amount of the agreement vary depending on the circumstances at hand.

Determining Amount of Spousal Support

There are a variety of factors that affect the amount and the length of alimony payments:

• Duration of the marriage
• Time separated while married
• The age of the parties at the time of the divorce
• Relative income of each spouse
• future financial prospects of the spouses
• The health of the parties
• Fault in marital breakdown
• Gender

Modification of Alimony

Alimony can be modified at any time if the court so wishes to do so but there must be enough compelling reasons for the modification to take place before the court changes the terms of the agreement. One party of the agreement can request a modification of the terms and must apply for the modification with the court after notifying the other party of the agreement. Some states allow courts to grant maintenance should one of the former spouses become a public charge. Alimony is sometimes compared to child support but in reality, they are nothing alike. Alimony is considered a form of income for the person receiving the payments while it is taken out of the income of the paying person.

Non-Payment of Alimony

One major problem with alimony is that if it is not being paid there are no legal options available to the person it is owed to acquire the payments. The only action they can take is to report back alimony to a collection agency and hope that the collection agency can acquire the back alimony for the person that is owed the payments. One other option, which is rare, is that some states will hold a person in contempt of court if they do not make their alimony payments. When a person is held in contempt of court they are put in jail for an extended period of time.

Existing Spousal Support Agreements

If one of the spouses is already receiving support from the other spouse prior to a divorce, the current agreement will not be extended automatically once the divorce becomes legal. The spouse receiving support can request to have it continued because the arguments for support during marriage differ from those arguments for support following marriage. The parties involved in a divorce can agree to the terms of their divorce in a binding written instrument if they wish and this agreement will include terms regarding the payment of alimony. If the couple does not agree to the terms of their divorce and alimony with a written binding instrument then the court will have to make a determination based on legal arguments provided and testimony submitted by both spouses.

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