Spousal support, also known historically as alimony or spousal maintenance, is a significant aspect of divorce proceedings that involves financial support from one spouse to another. In Spokane County, understanding the basics of spousal support is essential for individuals navigating divorce or legal separation.
What is Spousal Support?
Spousal support refers to the financial assistance provided by one spouse to the other during or after divorce or legal separation. The purpose of spousal support is to help the receiving party maintain a standard of living similar to that maintained during the marriage and even the income disparity between dividing households. This is especially true if one spouse is economically disadvantaged or unable to support themselves financially.
Factors Considered in Spousal Support Determination
Several factors influence the determination of spousal support in Spokane County, including:
- Duration of the marriage
- Income and earning capacity of each spouse
- Standard of living during the marriage
- Contributions to the marriage, including homemaking and childcare
- Financial needs and obligations of each spouse
- Any agreements or arrangements made between the spouses, including pre or postnuptial agreements
Most importantly, Spokane County follows the guidelines of “need” and “ability to pay”. This means, in layman terms, “Can the obligor afford to pay support?” and “Does the obligee need support to maintain a similar standard of living?”.
Types of Spousal Support
There are two primary types of spousal support seen in standard Family Law cases: temporary and “permanent” support. Temporary support is typically granted provisionally during proceedings called “Temporary Family Law Orders”. This type of support is granted on a temporary basis, designed to help spouses as they begin the process of dividing households and ensuring both parties have access to adequate resources to do so. This type of support may last for a specified duration (e.g. 3 months to support a spouse looking for new employment) or for the pendency of the matter.
Permanent support is subjective and the duration is, generally, not literally permanent. While there are always exceptions, dictated by the specific factors in each case, most courts will not award spousal support indefinitely. Common influential events determining the duration of spousal support include remarriage or death. More regularly, spouses can be ordered to pay a certain amount of support per month for a certain number of years. Again, these specific numbers are going to be solely dictated on the factors in each case and cannot be accurately estimated without knowing the full circumstances of each married couple or domestic partnership.
When to Seek Legal Guidance
Spousal support is often a hot topic in divorce or legal separation cases. Many “average” couples do not sign nuptial agreements, leaving factors like division of assets and liabilities and spousal support up to agreement during one of the most stressful times of their lives (divorce or separation) or up to the Courts to decide. Because the Courts consider many factors when determining if support should be awarded, seeking legal counsel could become imperative to ensuring a fair and accurate picture of the facts when going through Temporary Orders and especially Final Orders.
Hiring an attorney to represent your interests, whether you are the party requesting spousal support or denying the need for spousal support, ensures that the Court receives all important information, including but not limited to income information and a historical picture of marital circumstances (commonly referred to as the “marital community”) such as community debts.
If spousal support is not feasible in your circumstances, an attorney may also be able to find ways to help even the monetary disparity between parties in other ways or ensure that you are receiving the fairest outcome.
