All You Need to Know About Spousal Support Entitlement

I’m always on the hunt for relevant info and I loved this - one of the best articles I’ve seen on this topic for a while. Here are a few paragraphs as a taster...

Alimony, also known as spousal support or spousal maintenance, can be a very confusing aspect of divorce law and there are a lot of misconceptions regarding who is entitled to receive alimony during or after a divorce or legal separation.

Contrary to popular belief, you are not entitled to be awarded alimony because you are a woman, nor are you entitled to receive alimony because you have been married for a certain length of time. The truth is, alimony can be awarded to both men and women, and no one is guaranteed alimony, regardless of how long they have been married.

A person is entitled to alimony only when they are unable to fulfill their own needs without their former partner’s financial assistance and when their former partner earns substantially more than them.

Also, alimony is temporary in some cases, a person receives alimony from their former partner only till the time they complete their education, or get employed and become independent themselves.

How alimony is awarded

Alimony is awarded on a case-by-case basis and many factors are taken into consideration when a court decides whether, how much, and for how long you should be awarded alimony. These factors include:

The length of your marriage

Your financial needs

Your spouse’s ability to pay

The relative age, health, education, and work experience of both you and your spouse

That being said, if you receive physical custody of your children, you will usually be awarded alimony alongside child support.

The duration of alimony

If you awarded alimony, you will generally be expected to become self-sufficient at some point in time. However, if you were a homemaker for the entirety of a relatively long marriage, you may not be reasonably expected to become self-sufficient, and in this case, you may be awarded alimony on a permanent basis.

Pretty valuable stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree! Why not check out the whole article here and share your thoughts with me afterwards: call (0400) 315 550 or email me at christinemanolakos@cmlaw.com.au .

Thanks,

Christine