When you got married, you may have merged your accounts, mirroring the merging of your life and the life of your spouse. This creates new dynamics, different than the previous points in your relationship. This can help promote the sense of equality you want in your marriage.

Therefore, when the marriage begins to sour and conflict arises, it can be a tangled web, especially when it comes to finances. Divorce can enter the picture, leaving you with the task of sorting through your finances trying to determine what is and is not yours.

Legal process

You and your family law attorney may go through the process attempting to recover as many assets as you can, in case you are not able to recover all of your financial resources in the division of assets. This is why it is vital to you and your future to hire a family law attorney who understands what men and fathers go through during the divorce process.

Family law attorneys, like those at Cordell & Cordell, focus on the needs of men and fathers and understand that the outcome of your case is pertinent to your future. Even with the assistance, you still will most likely end up with less than you started and have to deal with a financial loss, as well as the prospect of paying alimony.

Concept of alimony

The idea of giving a percentage of your income to your ex-spouse is a tough pill to swallow. In forging a new path for yourself, it can feel like you still are tethered to the past.

You also may not make a lot of money to begin with, making the alimony payments even more devastating each month. Over time, it can create further financial damage, making it difficult to recover.

You can contact your family law attorney and go through the process of modifying your divorce decree, in order to reduce your alimony payments or prevent them from becoming a permanent fixture in your life.

If you are like many who struggle with the concept of alimony, you may be wondering if the process can ever change. Many who made less than their spouse during the course of their marriage still are forced to pay alimony, entirely based on the gender stereotypes that pervade the family courts system.

Others live in states like Oregon, New Jersey, Vermont, Connecticut, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Florida, where the laws of alimony have not been reformed in recent years, creating a conceptually permanent alimony.

Even still, there is no national calculation to how alimony is determined. Spousal support varies from state to state, and in some states, it varies from county to county. In other areas, judges can determine variance.

There also are questions surrounding when alimony ends. Typically, support is likely to stop when your ex-spouse cohabits with another individual in a marriage-like relationship, gets remarried, or dies. However, the legal documents would need to be filed, in order to make that happen, and if they are not filed before payments stop, you still may owe money.

Legislative efforts

With all of the variance that exists within the process, many states are attempting to catch up and update their regulations. Alabama signed a new law in 2017, making rehabilitative alimony the standard form. This includes payments lasting five years or less with the possibility of exceptions to the law.

The states of Vermont, South Carolina, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts all are considering or have considered legislative efforts to reform the alimony system in their respective states. However, some lawmakers are hesitant to do so, because of the number of individuals who rely on alimony, in order to supplement their income. For some, alimony is how they financially survive, and without it, they do not necessarily know what to do.

Payments and permanence

While situations where the receiver of alimony becomes reliant on the payment is unfortunate, the amount adds up for the payor over the years, crippling his finances and lowering his potential standard of living.

Financial security allows you the opportunity to pay your required amount in alimony, until your ex-spouse becomes financially secure for themselves, and you are able to modify your decree through the aid of your family law attorney.

The idea that permanence is attached to spousal support is one that negates the needs of middle-to-lower-income individuals who cannot afford to have a substantial percentage of their means be taken from them every month. In order for alimony, as a concept to change, this notion needs to be realized with regulations reflecting the needs of both the payor and the recipient.