Skip to main content

The Various Forms of Alimony

Following a divorce (and sometimes preceding one), alimony may be awarded to a spouse, depending on the circumstances. Alimony is designed so the recipient can maintain a lifestyle reasonably comparable to the lifestyle reasonably comparable to the lifestyle they were accustomed to while married. Alimony comes in a number of forms:

Permanent alimony can only be terminated upon the death of either spouse, or if the supported spouse remarries. The amount of alimony paid can be adjusted based on a significant change of circumstances - for example, the financial  situation of one or the other spouse has changed or supported spouse cohabits with another man/woman for a specified period of time. Permanent alimony is generally geared to those who had long-term marriages (10 or more years). If the marriage was too brief for permanent alimony, the court might award limited duration alimony, which is similar in principle to permanent alimony but has a fixed start and end date determined in advance by the court.

Rehabilitative alimony is awarded for a set period of years to be determined by the two parties or the court. Its intent is to enable a spouse to undertake job training or earn a degree to become more self-sufficient. This type of alimony is frequently awarded when the marriage was of short duration.

Reimbursement alimony "reimburses" a spouse who supported the other spouse in a way that enabled them to invest the time to attain a degree or develop a business. The support during the marriage need not have been financial. It can include maintaining the household, taking care of the kids, and providing emotional support.

Temporary alimony provides spousal support and serves as a bridge between official separation and the final divorce decree.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Questioned by the Police? - Don't Forget Your Rights

One of the special things about our country's criminal justice system is that if you are suspected or accused of committing a crime, you have certain fundamental rights. Unfortunately though, many people aren't aware of their rights, or, in the head of the moment, they forget about those rights. For instance, citizens who find themselves being questioned and in police custody may not even be aware that they have a basic fundamental right to have an attorney present any time they are being questioned by any branch of law enforcement. Truth is, having an attorney present if you are being quested is vitally important. Why is that? For one thing, an experienced criminal defense attorney can help you from incriminating yourself, can make sure that you don't answer questions that are designed to trick you, and can keep officers from asking the same question over and over again. Bottom line - having a criminal defense attorney on your side can help make sure that you don...

Full Custody, Joint Custody, and Sole Custody - What You Need to Know

We figured it might be helpful to produce a short article that summarizes the key differences among different types of custody. Full custody: this means that one parent is granted the majority of custody time and legal rights for the child. Joint custody: in this situation, the parents can split the physical custody of the child, and then have just one of the parents handle the legal custody (and, as a result, make any major decisions on behalf of the child). More common is to have parents share legal custody and then have one parent awarded physical custody. True joint custody arrangements, in which parents share both physical and legal custody equally, tend to be rare because of the logistical and personal issues involved (scheduling, added stress, disruption of the child's routine, costs, etc.) Sole custody: this means that one parent is awarded full legal and physical custody. These arrangements are rare, and are typically only set up if one parent is deemed unfit or wh...

Important Safety Warning from the CPSC

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commision (CPSC) had issued an important alert urging consumers to immediately stop using the LayZ Board self-balancing scooters (known as hoverboards). The CPSC has evidence that the LayZ Board was the hoverboard involved in the tragic fire on March 10, 2017, in Harrisburg, PA, which took the lives of two young girls. Numerous other fires have occurred in recent years as a result of the lithium-ion batteries in hoverboards, although this is the first fire that is believed to have directly led to fatalities. The LayZ Board hoverboards were manufactured in Shenzhen, China, and more than 3,000 units were imported into the United States. Due to the fire hazard posed to consumers of all ages by these hoverboards, the CPSC is urging the public to stop charging and stop using their LayZ Board. Consumers who choose to dispose of their hoverboards should take them to a local recycling center for safe handling of the lithium-ion battery. The CPSC is also...