Alimony and Spousal Maintenance

When you are going through an Alabama divorce proceeding, some of the terms are going to apply to every situation. Virtually all couples have shared property and debt that they are going to have to divide, and if you have children the matters of child custody, visitation, and support will be applicable 100% of the time. There is one divorce term that is not always deemed to be appropriate however, and this would be alimony or spousal maintenance.

The terms alimony, spousal maintenance, and spousal support are all mutually interchangeable; they describe a payment made by one former spouse to the other after a divorce. For the purposes of identification, the party who would be receiving the payments is termed the dependent spouse, and the person making the payment is the supporting spouse. Though a spousal support payment can be made by either party to the other, when it is paid the supporting spouse is almost always going to be the former husband.

Alimony can be either rehabilitative or permanent. Rehabilitative alimony is intended to provide support for the dependent spouse while he or she is either looking for suitable employment or gaining the skills necessary to become self supporting.

Permanent alimony is rather self explanatory. It is an ongoing payment intended to provide financial support indefinitely. It is usually appropriate in cases when the supporting spouse spend many years contributing to the family as a primary parental caregiver and manager of the domicile rather than advancing along a career path.

Alimony or spousal support can be agreed upon privately by the couple in question. However, it is important to think long term when entering into such a contract and keep the question of possible future modifications in mind. In Alabama spousal support can alternately be ordered by the court when certain conditions have been met.

For legal advice about alimony and spousal support, contact a Mobile AL family lawyer to arrange for a free consultation.