Alimony or spousal support mitigates the unfavorable economic consequences of divorce by availing a non-wage-earning or lower-wage-earning spouse with a steady stream of income. A major argument in favor of spousal support is that an ex-spouse may have opted to forego a profession to support the family and thus might require time to obtain employment skills to support themselves. Some argue that alimony is crucial in assisting a spouse in maintaining their current standard of living despite changes in income, bonuses, income taxes, and other factors.
While strict monetary limits govern child support in most jurisdictions in the United States, courts have extensive discretion in deciding whether to award spousal support and, if so, how much and for how long. Most states’ spousal support rules are based on the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act.
The Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act suggests that courts examine specific circumstances before deciding on alimony awards. The circumstances include the former spouses’ age, financial situation, physical condition, and emotional state. The court will also consider the duration or time frame the grantee of the alimony would need to gain self-sufficiency through education or training. Also, the couple’s standard of living during their marriage, the payor spouse’s ability to support the receiver while also supporting themselves, and the duration of the marriage will be extensively examined by the court.
The enforcement of alimony or spousal support is quite different from child support, which has the advantage of liens, wage garnishment, and other enforcement options. Alimony awards are difficult to predict. It is even more challenging to predict whether the paying spouse will comply with a support order. The prospective recipient or grantee, on the other hand, could take the matter to court in a contempt process to force payment. Because alimony can be awarded through a court order, a former spouse entitled to maintenance has access to the same enforcement tools provided by any other court order.
Alimony is only mandated as long as the receiving spouse needs to undergo skill-based tutelage and become self-sufficient. The payments must continue until the court orders a change if the divorce judgment does not include a spousal support cutoff date. If the recipient remarries, the alimony award comes to an end. The court may order that additional support be granted from the payer’s estate or life insurance earnings if the receiver spouse cannot find gainful employment due to age or health reasons.
In the past, women were the primary recipients of alimony awards. However, today courts and spousal support rulings have kept up with the changing times, where most marriages now involve two-wage earners, and women are perceived as less dependent. The traditional model of men paying spousal support and women receiving it is evolving, and alimony payments from ex-wife to ex-husband are rising. The Obergefell v. Hodges ruling by the United States Supreme Court, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, has also affected alimony trends. As a result, alimony orders have been issued in same-sex divorce cases, requiring higher-earning parties to pay alimony to a dependent same-sex spouse.
Alimony can be terminated in various ways, some of which may be negotiable. Retirement, children no longer requiring parental care, and a judge’s decision that a beneficiary is not making a good faith attempt to become self-sufficient are all possible reasons for payments to be stopped.
