Alimony or spousal maintenance can be an important part of divorces. Although it is more common than ever before for both spouses to work in modern marriages, it is sometimes more cost-effective for one of them to leave the workforce.
If there is an aging parent who needs care or new children in the family, outsourcing caregiving labor can be cost-prohibitive. There’s also no way to control the quality of care that a professional provides to your child or your healing family member.
By choosing to leave the workforce, a dependent spouse might save the family significant amounts of money while also supporting their working spouse’s career. Spouses who have left the workforce or put their career on the back burner to take care of the family may be able to ask for alimony in a Kentucky divorce.
Is alimony only for women?
There is often a lot of confusion about alimony because people assume that it is something that a husband pays to a wife. However, the spousal maintenance law does not refer to husbands, wives or the sex of either spouse. Instead, it discusses earning potential, health, the couple’s standard of living and contributions to the marriage. Either spouse can make a claim against the other for alimony in divorce proceedings.
How much alimony will the courts order?
There is no specific formula for alimony in Kentucky. A judge has to look at the totality of a couple’s circumstance to set an amount. Income, the health and assets of both spouses, their ages, the length of the marriage and even the custody of their kids can have an influence on the total amount of alimony ordered.
How long will alimony last?
Most spousal maintenance is rehabilitative. The goal is for it to be a short-term support while someone finds a job or gets the skills they need to earn a living wage. However, sometimes alimony can last longer, even until remarriage or death. Lasting alimony is less common and usually only occurs if there is a marital agreement that requires the maintenance or extenuating circumstances, like severe health issues for one spouse.
Whether you hope to secure alimony or worry about needing to pay it, the better you understand the law, the easier it will be for you to address spousal support in your upcoming divorce.