Even if you aren’t going through the divorce process, you probably know the basics of alimony. In short, this is a monthly payment that one spouse makes to the other. Also known as spousal support, it is awarded as a means of bringing fairness to the financial impact of divorce.
As you move forward with the divorce process in Maryland, you may soon have questions related to alimony. Most importantly, you’ll ask one of the following:
- Is it possible for me to receive alimony?
- Is it possible that I may have to pay alimony as the result of the divorce settlement?
Every state is different with regard to its alimony requirements. For instance, you must have been married for a particular period of time. Along with this, the parties receiving alimony should be able to prove that they have limited work experience and education, meaning that they are unable to immediately return to the workforce to provide personal support.
There are alternatives to alimony. For example, in the event that a person does not want to make monthly payments, he or she may be able to pay all the support in one lump sum.
It doesn’t matter what side of the fence you sit on, as you go through a divorce you’re going to have questions about alimony at some point. The more you know about this the easier it becomes to make informed decisions.
If you think you’re owed spousal support, you need to fight for your rights. Conversely, if you’re being asked to pay alimony, you also need to know what you can to do fight back.
Table of Contents
How Long Does Alimony Last?
Alimony can be very effecting for the married couples anticipating divorce. The duration of the alimony can keep up the wives and husbands wide awake at night. How long alimony keeps going affects financial and security plans. For the partner who is involved in the alimony payments and the person who gets it, alimony influences their expense, income, and standard of living.
How Long Can You Expect to Pay Alimony?
Alimony payments are a part of numerous divorces, and they can assist one of the partners with living easily until they can more readily support themselves. The purpose of alimony is to overcome any issues for those spouses who relied on their income of the partner for support during the marriage, however is commonly not expected to support them completely for an uncertain time period. Usually, alimony payments just keep going for a long time. Yet, precisely how long is that? In case you are hoping to pay alimony after your divorce, there are several types of alimony. This is what you need to know about the duration of spousal support payments typically.
Temporary Alimony
This kind of alimony is granted during divorce procedures. The payment will continue until the divorce is finalized and an official alimony understanding can be instituted.
Permanent Alimony or Long-Term Marriage
This kind of alimony is substantially less common now than it used to be. It is given to one of the partners until their demise, retirement, or remarriage.
Reimbursement Alimony
This type of alimony, as the name infers, is given as a reimbursement for any investigation made into the other education or business of the spouse. For instance, in case that one of the partners attempted to set up their spouse for college, and they were separated shortly. Thereafter, the appointed authority may grant reimbursement alimony to the first partner until the debt is reimbursed.
The types of alimony granted are one factor that will affect how long your alimony payment will last. In the event that the appointed judge grants both of the first two kinds of alimony, the duration of that payment is clarified briefly. In case you are taking a gander at the payment for one of the last two sorts of alimony, continue to become familiar with certain different elements that will affect their duration.
Equal Reimbursement
In the case of reimbursement alimony, the duration of the alimony payment is equivalent to the duration of the support that is received.
Employability
In numerous relationships, one of the partners is the essential breadwinner while the other keeps an eye on kids and family. In these cases, the partner who was accountable for looking after the household eventually ends up with a hole in their employment history. They may have even left education to really focus on kids at home, leaving them with an absence of skills, work, and education expected to find productive work after their divorce. In these cases, the individual lacking there will normally get alimony until they can get the training or education expected that is needed to find a new job.
Duration of Marriage
In order to determine the duration of spousal support, the divorce court also considers the factor involving the duration or length of the marriage. While the final decision will fluctuate by the case (and each state has an alternate rule that judges follow), these are the averages dependent on the length of the marriage:
Short Term Marriage
Alimony is granted for around half of the length of your marriage. Thus, in the event that you were together for not a very long time like 5 years or less you can hope to make alimony for around two years.
Long Term Marriage
Marriages that kept going very long for more than 20 years are the most likely to get lasting alimony. This implies you need to hope to support your ex until retirement age or until they die or remarry.
Final Thoughts
If you have any queries or issues regarding the alimony, make sure to contact a professional who is reliable and can guide you well.
