Atkinson & Kelsey Law Firm Blog

What factors determine a fair alimony amount?

While sometimes a married couple can divorce in an amicable manner, some divorcing couples in New Mexico might find it challenging to reach fair and equitable terms when it comes to their finances post-divorce. In most marriages, spouses are accustomed to a certain standard of living. Therefore, it might become important for some spouses during a divorce to take steps to ensure that this standard of living can continue post-divorce. Requesting spousal support not only helps a spouse secure the financial needs they require but also limits any unfair economic impacts that could occur. This is especially true for spouses who did not earn a wage or earned a low wage during a marriage.

What factors determine a fair alimony amount? One purpose of alimony is to provide financial support to spouse that chose to forego a career to support his or her family during a marriage. Spousal support provides that spouse the ability and time to develop the job skills necessary to become self-supportive. Additionally, alimony may also used to maintain a certain lifestyle or standard of living a spouse became accustomed to during his or her marriage.

What are some factors that might be considered when determining an alimony award? First of all the age, physical condition, emotional state and the current financial condition of the spouses may be factored in. In addition, the length of the marriage, the couple’s standard of living during the entire marriage, the length of time that the recipient spouse would need for education or job training to become self-sufficient and the ability of the paying spouse to make alimony payments and still be self-supportive may also play a role in alimony awards.

Once it is determined alimony is necessary, it is essential to assess how much alimony payment should be and how long they should be paid. If it is not a situation where permanent alimony can be ordered, it is likely spousal support will be deemed rehabilitative. The length of these payments will be based on a reasonable amount of time for the recipient spouse to become self-supporting.

Because the culture of alimony is frequently changing, divorcing couples often encounter many questions and challenges when working through alimony issues. Therefore, it is not only necessary to understand what laws control alimony awards but what also can be done to enforce and modify alimony payments if necessary.

Source: FindLaw, “Spousal Support (Alimony) Basics,” accessed May 30, 2016