A divorce is a potentially very high-stakes situation, where decisions and agreements made in an afternoon can impact over a lifetime. If you’ve begun or plan to begin in the process of terminating a marriage in California, it’s vital to be familiar with the legal framework surrounding the process – this article will focus on alimony payments, specifically how they are awarded and the circumstances under which a person might be denied or disqualified from receiving them.
What Is Alimony?
In case you aren’t familiar with the term, alimony refers to a legal obligation where one of the parties involved in a divorce must make regular payments to their ex-partner due to a court order. The idea behind this system is to protect divorcees with lower incomes than their partners and to try to ensure that both exes can enjoy a standard of living similar to what they had when they were together.
It must be noted that alimony is not the same as child support payments. While alimony is designed to support the divorcees, child support is dedicated to helping with the costs of raising a child. Also, while not all divorce cases will involve an alimony agreement, by law, both parents or guardians have a legal responsibility to financially support their children – you must be in very special and particular circumstances to avoid paying child support.
Who Can Be Awarded Alimony?
In California, while calculating child support payments must follow a clearly established formula to ensure equitable contributions to the child’s wellbeing, the decision of whether or not to award alimony and the size of alimony payments is left to the discretion of the presiding judge.
Several factors inform the judge’s decision as to who is qualified (or disqualified) from receiving alimony. Here are the most important factors that go into making the decision:
- Maintaining a standard of living: The most important factor in the decision is whether or not both separating parties can maintain a standard of living similar to what they had while together. Especially in cases involving children and, most especially joint custody, it’s important for all involved to keep a steady lifestyle.
- Financial health of both partners: Also critically important to the decision is how well-off the exes will be after separating. Generally speaking, one must have the means to support the other on top of their own expenses, and one should have at least some need for extra income after the divorce.
- Duration of the marriage: There is no minimum length of a partnership to qualify for alimony, but judges are often more likely to award it to longer-standing, more established partnerships.
- Ability to find employment: An ex seeking alimony will have a stronger case if there is some reason or factor that keeps them from easily securing sustainable work.
- Contributions to the household: Judges are more likely to reward partners who actively contribute to the home. Contributions can be defined in a few ways, from financial contributions to home repairs, to time spent away from work to raise kids, to contributions to the other partner’s education or career, to name just a few.
- New relationships: It’s possible for a person to be denied alimony, or even lose the right to an existing alimony agreement if they start a new serious relationship. Since the goal is to protect mutual standards of living, if your ex remarries or finds themselves once again in a steady double-income household, you may no longer be required to maintain or begin alimony payments.
How Can A Person Be Disqualified from Receiving Alimony?
Depending on the circumstances of the divorce and the two partners, any of the factors on the list above can effectively shut down a request for alimony support – typically either because both partners are very capable of supporting themselves or because the partnership was especially short.
However, anyone can be fully disqualified and denied from seeking alimony. According to California Family Code, the main reason a person would be ineligible is past criminal history. In particular, cases of domestic abuse, especially abuse against partners, children, ex-partners, or other people living in the home, will typically preclude a person from seeking alimony in court.
Getting All The Facts
Naturally, if you’re involved in a divorce, one of the single most crucial factor to success is having a trustworthy, dependable attorney in your corner. Our team of seasoned representatives at Azemika & Azemika specializes in family law, particularly divorce, alimony, child support payments, and child custody.
When so many aspects of one’s future hang in the balance, you need to know that you have excellent legal representation. Contact us today to find out how we can help you in your legal battle.