Divorce Alimony in California

Divorce Papers > Divorce Alimony > Divorce Alimony in California

The process of a divorce brings with it untold misery and pain for the partners, irrespective of whosoever's fault it might be. It merely does not cause suffering and trouble to the couple who are heading for a divorce, but at the same time also signals the start of a different life for the children involved as well. All of a sudden, children see the two most loved persons in their life calling it quits and parting ways, and to their utter shock they have to manage their lives in the absence of one of them. Many a times it is seen that a few of them retain the trauma for the rest of their lives so badly that they have a lot of difficulties in mingling with people of the opposite gender. They lose faith in the goodness of the people because they have seen a world break in front of them, which they imagined would be very wonderful with daddy and mummy always being with them and seeing them grow up. However, without thinking much about these factors, the couples file for divorce, and then everything right from the granting of the custody of the child to the divorce alimony has to be decided in the presence of the judge. In order to avoid such an unpleasant situation, most of the times the partners make their own decisions regarding a few arrangements. A rise in the number of divorces can be attributed to two main reasons, the first being lack of quality time for partners to devote for households issues, and the second being the attitude of the modern women to ignore the presence as well as superiority of the man in the house and wanting to wear the pants equally in the house. As any other state of the United States in America, the procedure of Divorce Alimony in California also has rules of its own, which needs to be adhered to by the judges in the courts while giving a nod for a divorce.

Duration of Divorce Alimony in California

• A legislator in this state has endorsed a statute as per which a marital life of the duration of 10 years is termed as a lengthy marriage. In case of such a marriage, if the court orders permanent support, then it is a misuse of the discretion of the court to determine a future termination date
• The courts in this state have a tendency to disfavor lifetime support
• The intention of the court is that the recipient of support should become self supporting within a reasonable period of time. Unless the marriage is of long duration, this reasonable period is calculated as 50 percent of the duration of the marriage. However, the court might consider the factors listed in Section 4336 as well as the circumstances of the spouses and accordingly lessen or enhance this period
• The thumb rule, which is followed by practitioners is that alimony should suffice for 50 percent of the duration of the marriage (this is specifically applicable when the marital life is less than 10 years)
• This is generally decided on the basis of the duration of the marital life

Amount of Divorce Alimony in California

The court takes into account the following factors while deciding the amount to be paid:

• Are there any documents that prove a past record of domestic violence (as mentioned in Section 6211)? This issue of domestic violence is not limited to the following points:
  • Has the partner seeking alimony acted in a violent way against the partner (who would be the payer)?
  • Has the partner seeking alimony suffered from emotional distress due to domestic violence by the partner (i.e. the future payer)?
• Assume that there are dependent children in custody of the partner seeking alimony. Is this partner capable of taking active part in a gainful employment without unduly hampering the interests of the children?
• Have the partner (from whom alimony is expected) has been helped by the partner requesting alimony to acquire a career position and / or a license, education, training?
• How to balance the hardships of both the spouses?
• If the earning ability of each spouse enough to retain the standard of living experienced during marital life, considering the following:
  • During the marital life, the partner seeking alimony may have devoted time to domestic duties. Has this resulted in periods of unemployment of this partner? Moreover, has it hampered the future as well as the present earning capacity of this partner?
  • The skills of the recipient to get a job and the market for those skills. The money and time necessary for this recipient to attain proper education and training for these skills
• The age and health of both spouses
• The assets and obligations of both of the partners, inclusive of separate property
• The capacity of the partner to disburse alimony, considering the following:
  • The earning capacity
  • Earned and unearned assets, income and standard of living
• The immediate and specific tax repercussions for both of the spouses
• The length of marital life
• The standard of life to which the partners were accustomed to in the marital life and on the basis of this, what are the requirements of each of the spouses?
• Whether an abusive spouse has been criminally convicted in the past? If yes, then as per Section 4325, is there an elimination or reduction of alimony

After a proper consideration of all these factors, alimony in California is granted as in any other state of the United States of America. However, only the correct information has to be furnished to the court and the judge before it arrives at a decision.

Divorce Papers