In this video, our Polk County alimony attorneys explain how spousal support, also known as alimony, is a court-ordered provision for support based on financial need.  Spousal support can be temporary, short-term, or permanent depending on each spouse’s circumstances.  The Court will consider a variety of factors to determine if alimony should be awarded and to which party.  If alimony is granted, a judge will decide the amount to be paid, the means by which it will be paid, and how long the payments will continue, unless there is an agreement between the parties that has been approved by the Court.

In this video, our Polk County alimony attorneys discuss how remarriage and cohabitation affect spousal support and alimony payments. Spousal support (also known as alimony) are the financial payments one spouse makes to the other during and following a divorce. There are a number of different types of spousal support a court can award depending on circumstances. The three categories are as follows:

• Periodic/traditional: paid until the death of the payor, the receiver passes or the receiver remarries;
• Reimbursement: repayment to a spouse who helped with the partner’s educational or work training expenses; and
• Rehabilitative: paid until the spouse receiving payments is self-sufficient (able to financially provide for themselves).

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In this video, our Polk County alimony attorneys discuss  a number of statutory factors when determining the amount and duration of alimony payments, such as:

• The income of each spouse;
• Duration of the marriage;
• Standard of living during the marriage;
• Support of the children (if any);
• How the marital property is to be divided; and
• Each spouse's income capacity and earning potential.

A judge is less likely to award spousal maintenance if each of the spouses earn roughly the same amount of income and can support themselves.  If the parties have children together and the custodial parent will receive child support, this will also impact the amount of alimony awarded by a judge.

Alimony payments are often rehabilitative, meaning they are only intended to last until the receiving spouse acquires the necessary education and training to maintain a job of sufficient means.  There are two other types of alimony payments as well: traditional and reimbursement.  Traditional alimony is usually awarded when the marriage lasted for many years, and one of the spouses has spent a significant amount of time out of the workforce.  Reimbursement alimony is awarded if one spouse contributed significantly to the other spouse’s earning potential.  An example of this would be a husband working to both support the family and put his wife through medical school.

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