Spousal support / Alimony to the wife

When a marriage ends in divorce, the court may award “spousal support” or a “pension” to one of the spouses. Below is a discussion about alimony and spousal support.

Why pension?

The purpose of the board is to avoid the economic consequences of unfair after a divorce, the spouse with higher income to provide a continuous income to the spouse who receives no salary or perceived one very low.

How do you determine the amount of the pension?

Unlike child support, which in most states is determined according to the guidelines of monetary-specific, the courts have wide discretion to decide whether to grant the pension, what will be the amount and for how long. The Uniform Law of Marriage and Divorce, on which many states based their laws on spousal support, recommends that courts consider the following factors when deciding on the board:

• The age, physical condition, emotional state and financial condition of the former spouses;
• The time that the beneficiary (who receives the child support) you will need to obtain education or training necessary to become self-sufficient;
• The standard of living of the couple during their marriage;
• The duration of the marriage; and
• The ability of the person who will pay the pension to maintain the beneficiary and kept to himself.

Alimony and child support orders

Determine whether you will be granted the pension to a spouse is difficult, but determining whether a spouse will comply with a support order is even harder. Require the payment of spousal support is not child support, which has “resources” to apply embargoes, seizures, and other methods to ensure compliance. The beneficiary may, however, return to the court and initiating a contempt proceeding in which to enforce the payments.

For how long should you pay maintenance?

Often the pension is considered to be “restitution”, that is to say, it is ordered only for the time the beneficiary spouse in training and become self-sufficient. If the divorce decree does not specify the date on which you will be paid the spousal support, the payments must continue until the court orders otherwise. In most cases, the pension ends when the beneficiary marries again. The suspension of the pension in the event that the paying spouse dies, it is not necessarily automatic; in cases in which the beneficiary does not have many chances to get a well-paid job, perhaps due to their age or their health conditions, the court may order to be granted a pension more substantial, which can come from the real estate or the life insurance of who was paying the pension.

Trends on the pension

In the past, most pensions were granted to widows whose husbands were the breadwinners of the household. The culture has changed and now in most marriages, both spouses receive a salary; they view women as “less dependent”, and also considers men as parents, “primary”. For these reasons, the courts and spousal support have advanced at the same pace. The tradition of men paying and women receiving spousal support is eradicated quickly, and the orders where an ex-wife pays a pension to your ex-husband are on the increase.