Let’s Talk About Spousal Support in Stockton, CA

June 19, 2017August 13, 2020
by Angie

When you’re divorcing your spouse, you have the right to ask for spousal support. While every case is different, and there’s no way to predict how a judge will rule in an individual case, chances are good that if you need spousal support, the state of California will award it to you.

What is Spousal Support?

Commonly called alimony, spousal support is a set amount of money that the courts order one spouse or partner to pay the other. (It’s called spousal support for married couples; couples who aren’t married have partner support.)

How Do You Get Spousal Support in California?

In order for a legally binding spousal support order to be put in place, you must be in the process of divorce, legal separation, or annulment.

Temporary and Permanent Support Orders

You can ask the court to order your spouse to provide support during your divorce, legal separation, or annulment process. When that happens, it’s called a temporary order.

When the court orders spousal support when your case is final, it’s considered a permanent order.

How Does the Judge Decide How Much Spousal Support to Order?

When a judge decides how much spousal support to order, he or she will look at the amount you’re requesting and weigh it against several factors outlined in California’s Family Code. The factors a judge must look at include:

Each spouse’s earning capacity

Each spouse’s marketable skills, whether there’s a job market for those skills, and what it would take for that person to acquire the education or training to develop those skills

How each spouse’s earning capacity has been impacted by periods of unemployment during the marriage

How much each spouse contributed to the other’s education, training, career, or licensure

Whether the other spouse has the ability to pay spousal support

The needs of each party based on the standard of living you established during your marriage

The obligations and assets (including each party’s separate property) of each party

How long you were married

Whether the supported party—the person asking for alimony—can get a job without “unduly interfering” with the kids’ best interests

Each spouse’s age and health

Whether there is a history of domestic violence between the parties

The tax consequences of alimony (for both parties)

The “balance of hardships” to each party

The court generally assumes that the supported party should be self-supporting in the future, within a reasonable period of time. Typically, a “reasonable period of time” is a time period equal to half the duration of the marriage (if you were married for 20 years, then, the court could consider 10 years to be a reasonable period of time). Even with that in mind, though, the judge can order spousal support for any period of time based on the other factors he or she has to consider. The support order can last longer—or can terminate sooner—than what you’d expect.

Do You Need to Talk to a Stockton Divorce Lawyer About Spousal Support?

If you need to talk to a Stockton divorce attorney about spousal support, whether you’ll have to pay it or you’ll most likely be on the receiving end, we can help.

Call us at 209-910-9865 for a divorce consultation with an experienced attorney. We’ll evaluate your situation, answer your questions, and begin developing a strategy that gets you the best possible outcome right away.

Divorce

Grounds for Divorce in California

April 24, 2017June 8, 2020
by Angie

If you’re like most people, you’ve heard the term grounds for divorce—but what does that really mean, and do you really need to pinpoint a specific reason before you divorce your spouse in California? While it’s typically best to ask an attorney who practices family law in Stockton about the specifics of your own case, here’s what you need to know about grounds for divorce in California.

What Are Grounds for Divorce in California?

California is a no-fault divorce state. That means if you file for divorce, you don’t have to provide the court with a specific reason. You can get a divorce in Stockton and elsewhere in California when you and your spouse simply have “irreconcilable differences.”

You do not have to disclose your reasons for divorcing to the court other than to say that you have irreconcilable differences.

A Word on Irreconcilable Differences

The term irreconcilable differences simply means that neither party in a marriage committed an act that directly brought about the end of the marriage (like adultery, abandonment, or cruelty). When you use this term, it means that neither party is completely at-fault for the marriage’s breakdown.

Will the Grounds for Your Divorce Have an Impact on Your Alimony Award?

Most people don’t want to spill the personal details of a split in a courtroom, and that’s completely fine. It’s important to know that in most cases, the grounds for your divorce won’t have an effect on the amount or duration of an alimony award that you receive.

(Even cheating is unlikely to affect your alimony award. Remember, the purpose of spousal support is to ensure that one spouse doesn’t fall into poverty because of the divorce. The courts don’t use it as a punishment for a spouse’s bad behavior during the marriage.)

There is one exception, though: If your spouse has been convicted of violent or abusive behavior, the judge has the power to reduce or, in some cases, eliminate the alimony that the abuser would normally be entitled to receive.

What the Courts Look at When Determining Alimony Awards

The courts must look at several factors when determining how much alimony will change hands, including:

Each spouse’s earning capacity
How much each spouse contributed to the other’s career, education, and other financially tied achievements
Each spouse’s ability to pay alimony
The needs of each spouse based on the standard of living each enjoyed during the marriage
Tax consequences to each spouse
The balance of hardships each spouse must now endure

This isn’t a complete list. Instead, courts look at these factors and a number of others—including any other factors the judge believes are fair and reasonable—to make an alimony award determination.

Do You Need “Grounds for Divorce” in California?

You don’t need to have a specific reason to end your marriage in the state of California. Whether your spouse had a long-term affair, abandoned you, or simply chose to terminate your marriage is irrelevant to the court. The court’s primary concern is the children of your marriage, if you have them; if you don’t, the court is only interested in overseeing a fair, equitable split that allows both parties to move forward separately.

Do You Need to Talk to a Family Law Attorney in Stockton?

If you’re contemplating divorce, or if your spouse has already filed for a divorce and you need an experienced, knowledgeable attorney in your corner, call us at 209-910-9865 right away. You can speak with a Stockton divorce lawyer who understands what you’re going through—and who’s willing to be your voice in the court system.

Tag: <span>Alimony</span>