Alimony is a divorce-related topic that is important to both the paying spouse and the recipient spouse requesting alimony. Alimony is a payment that one former spouse makes to the other after the spouses are divorced which makes alimony an important concern to resolve during divorce.
The family law court uses alimony as a tool to help ensure that both spouses are in as positive a financial position as possible following a divorce. Alimony, which is sometimes referred to as spousal support or spousal maintenance, can help a lower-wage earning spouse or spouse who remained at home to care for the household and children enjoy some measure of financial stability following their divorce. When seeking alimony, the duration of the marriage, the standard of living during the marriage and the contributions of the spouse seeking support to the marriage will be considered.
There are six different types of alimony that may be awarded in Florida. Different types of alimony that may be awarded for different purposes and in different situations. Types of alimony that may be awarded can include temporary alimony, bridge-the-gap alimony, rehabilitative alimony, lump sum alimony, permanent periodic alimony and durational alimony. It is helpful for divorcing spouses to understand the different types of alimony that may be available and in what circumstances they may be awarded.
Because alimony can be an acrimonious issue during divorce, it can help reduce tensions when the divorcing spouses are familiar with how alimony is determined and know what to expect during their divorce. Alimony is one of the many divorce-related concerns the family law process can help guide divorcing spouses through during their divorce.
