Alimony Guidelines

While there are no written alimony guidelines that Courts use, many judges go by specific criteria to aid in the decision of ordering alimony and the amount of it.

No alimony guidelines checklist available

If you're looking for alimony guidelines, you won't find them. Courts have not been able to decide exactly when alimony should be order and how to calculate payments. Instead, it's left up to the discretion of the Court by considering if the divorcees fall into a certain criteria.

• Income

If you and your spouse have a similar income or if the person requesting the alimony makes more than the other, it is not likely the Court will award alimony. Therefore, the requesting spouse must have less earning capacity than his/her spouse for consideration for spousal support.

• Property

The amount of property one spouse has over the other will factor into whether he/she will have to pay spousal support.

• Children

The Court is much more likely to award alimony to a spouse that has custody of the children from the marriage.

• Marriage duration

The longer two people are married, the higher the likelihood the Court will award spousal support.

• Education

If one spouse pays for the other's education during the marriage, it's not likely the paying spouse will have to pay alimony.

• Standard of living

The Court believes that both spouses should continue the standard of living they had before the divorce. Therefore, if one spouse is not able to keep up that standard of living, the other spouse may have to pay spousal support.

• Taxes

If one spouse receives a tax benefit from property acquired during the marriage, this could factor into spousal support. Again, the Court strives to make sure each spouse leaves the marriage in a similar financial situation.

• Prenuptial agreement

If there was a prenuptial or premarital agreement, the Court will consider it.

• Fault

Many states do not consider fault when deciding on spousal support; however, some do, especially if it negatively affects the financial outcome of the other spouse.

After looking at this criteria, you may feel that you are in a good position to receive spousal support. However, since these are not alimony guidelines, you won't be able to know for certain that the Court will decide in your favor. This means that if you don't agree with the Court's decision, you may be able to speak with a lawyer to appeal the decision. To improve your chances of increasing the payments you will receive, it's important to build a case.

While you may fall into the criteria for spousal support, you will benefit from providing evidence of your financial need. You will need to furnish pay stubs and documentation of all other income. To show how your income is insufficient to continue your current standard of living, provide proof of all of your expenditures. You may even go a step further and show how much money you would need to be able to continue the standard of living you once had when married. This will help the Court understand how much money you really do need.

Being prepared to show the Court that you meet the criteria for spousal support and proving that you are in financial need may greatly improve your chances. However, keep in mind, that even though you may be able to show how much money you need, the decision to award alimony is still at the discretion of the Court.

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