Permanent Alimony is Still a Possibility in California
Alimony in California Divorce Cases
When you are happily married, what stands out about California is its natural and artificial beauty — the gold in those hills and the glitz of Tinseltown. Everything glitters, and it is so beautiful that no one cares how much of it, if any, is real. When you get a divorce, though, what stands out about California is that it is a community property state. This means that the court divides couples’ marital property when judges decide divorce cases at trial. On the surface, it appears to mean that your ex gets half of everything you own. Once you get to divorce court, though, you realize that this is not the whole story. Marital property rarely divides neatly in half, not even in community property states like California. Alimony is one way to complicate matters. Some former spouses pay alimony, and some do not, but the ones that pay it do not send 50% of every paycheck to their ex. To find out how much alimony, if any, you should pay in your divorce case, contact a California family law attorney.
Most Alimony Awards End When the Divorce Becomes Final
Nationwide, most alimony awards apply to cases where the divorce is still pending. This type of alimony is called temporary alimony or pendente lite alimony. The good news is that pendente lite alimony obligations automatically end when the divorce becomes final, and the court may or may not replace them with another alimony order. The better news is that California, unlike many other states, has guidelines for calculating pendente lite alimony. The guidelines are not uniform across the state; each county sets its own rules. In most counties, the amount of pendente lite alimony is 40% of the higher-income spouse’s income minus 50% of the lower-income spouse’s income.
Permanent Alimony is Still a Possibility in California
If you end up paying alimony to your ex, it will probably be because you and your ex agree to it during mediation. When one spouse has been out of the workforce during the marriage, it is obvious that he or she will need alimony at least for a while. If the court must decide the duration or amount of alimony, it may consider more than a dozen factors. It can even make the duration of alimony modifiable, meaning that, after a few years, it will decide whether the recipient spouse still needs alimony and whether the paying spouse can still pay. Florida’s decision to abolish permanent alimony made news headlines last year, but permanent alimony, which lasts until one spouse dies, is still an option in California. You are not eligible for it if the marriage lasted less than ten years, but if you were married for a decade or more, there is a possibility, albeit a remote one, that alimony could last forever.
Contact SNR Law Group About Divorce and Alimony
A family law attorney can help you reach a fair settlement about the division of marital property and, if appropriate, alimony. Contact SNR Law Group in Tustin, California, to discuss your case.
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