Spousal support comes in two forms.  The first is temporary spousal support while the divorce action is pending.  At the conclusion of the divorce action and in the discretion of the court, one spouse may be ordered to pay continuous spousal support depending on the length of the marriage.  Simply click on the link below to learn about each:

TEMPORARY SPOUSAL SUPPORT

SPOUSAL SUPPORT AT TRIAL

TEMPORARY SPOUSAL SUPPORT

Temporary spousal support is support that one spouse seeks against the other before trial.

Temporary spousal support is not a guarantee in every marriage.   It is awarded in a divorce or legal separation cases when “necessary for the support” of the other spouse.  It is based on the “need” of the spouse seeking it and the “ability to pay” of the other spouse.  For that reason, temporary spousal support is viewed as being necessary to maintain the living conditions and standards of the parties in as close to the status quo position as possible pending trial and the division of their assets and obligations.

The court takes all assets and income, and all marital expenses into consideration when deciding whether it should and how much it should award in spousal support.

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SPOUSAL SUPPORT AT TRIAL

The court may order one spouse to pay spousal support to the other spouse in “an amount, for a period of time, that the court determines is just and reasonable, based on the standard of living established during the marriage.”  

Earnings and earning capacity is the focus of the court.  Here are the factors that the court considers:

(1) The marketable skills of the person receiving or asking for support; the job market for those skills; the time and expenses required for that person to acquire the appropriate education or training to develop those skills; and the possible need for retraining or education to acquire other, more marketable skills or employment.

(2) The extent to which the present or future earning capacity of the person receiving or asking for support is impaired by periods of unemployment that were incurred during the marriage to permit the supported spouse to devote time to domestic duties.  This is common when one spouse is a homemaker and the other worked throughout the marriage.   

(3) The extent to which the person receiving support or asking for support contributed to the attainment of an education, training, a career position, or a license by the person paying for support.

(4) The ability of the person paying spousal or being asked to pay spousal support to actually pay spousal support, taking into account his or her earning capacity, earned and unearned income, assets, and standard of living.

(5) The needs of each spouse based on the standard of living established during the marriage.

(6) The obligations and assets, including the separate property, of each spouse.

(7) The duration of the marriage. Generally, marriages of less than 10 years are considered short term marriages.  Marriages of 10 years or more are long term.  Spousal support may be lifetime support (with certain exceptions such as remarriage, etc.) in a long term marriage, while it may be 1/2 of the duration of the marriage in a short term marriage.  There are exceptions to these rules.

(8) The ability of the spouse receiving support or asking for support to engage in gainful employment without unduly interfering with the interests of dependent children in the custody of the spouse.

(9) The age and health of the spouses.

(10) Documented evidence of any history of domestic violence between the spouses, including, but not limited to, consideration of emotional distress resulting from domestic violence perpetrated against the supported spouse by the supporting spouse, and consideration of any history of violence against the supporting spouse by the supported spouse.

(11) The immediate and specific tax consequences to each spouse.

(12) The balance of the hardships to each spouse.

(13) The goal that the supported spouse shall be self-supporting within a reasonable period of time.  The court wants both spouses to work or become employed within a reasonable period of time.  This is true even in long term marriages.   

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