Alimony In Alabama Is An Inexact Science
Alimony orders are not supposed to be a punishment, but that is how they feel for both parties. If the court orders you to pay alimony, you might think, “I tried everything to save my marriage, but my wife’s mind was made up that she wanted a divorce, so not only did she keep the family home, but the court ordered me to pay X amount of money every month for five years.” Meanwhile, if the court ordered your ex-spouse to pay alimony, you might think, “My husband left me, and I had to refinance the mortgage and make payments on it as a single parent, and all I get is this lousy alimony check for X dollars per month for three years.” In other words, you might think that the court’s decision about how much alimony to award is unfair, and you may be right. In Alabama, judges decide alimony based on their own discretion, in other words, their own individual judgment about what is fair. A Birmingham alimony lawyer can help you get a fair decision about alimony in your divorce case.
Who’s Afraid of the Judge’s Discretion?
When divorce cases result in a trial where one spouse claims to need alimony and the other refuses to pay, one of them is maintaining his or her position purely out of stubbornness. In cases where one spouse cannot be financially independent of the other as soon as the divorce becomes final, this is obvious to both parties. No one reasonably expects you to go from your 20th year as a stay-at-home mother straight to a full-time job with a six-figure income. Disputes over alimony are usually disagreements over the amount and duration; they do not come down to first principles.
Most couples decide on alimony amounts during divorce mediation, and it is in your interest to do this. If your spouse is being stubborn, the best thing to do is to take a step back and let your lawyer negotiate with your spouse’s lawyer. If the case goes to trial, the judge may decide on an alimony award that satisfies no one. Unlike child support, Alabama does not have statewide guidelines for alimony. Judges set alimony orders based on the goal of keeping both spouses at a similar standard of living to what they had during the marriage, but this is not always possible in practice. In Alabama, judges have the right to consider fault as a factor in alimony decisions. This means that, if you ruined the marriage by having an extramarital affair, or if you intentionally sabotaged your ex-spouse’s finances, the court can order you to pay more alimony.
Contact Peeples Law About Spousal Support in Alabama
A Birmingham family law attorney can help you persuade the court that you need and deserve more alimony than your ex-spouse says you do, if your lawyer cannot convince your ex of this while your case is in mediation. Contact Peeples Law today to schedule a consultation.
Source:
justia.com/family/divorce/alimony-forms-50-state-resources/#alabama
