Morris County Alimony Lawyer
Alimony, or spousal support, is an amount of money paid to a former spouse after a divorce. While analysis by Bowling Green State College’s National Center for Marriage and Family Research shows that New Jersey has the nation’s fourth-lowest rate of divorce, the situation still affects around 13 out of every 1,000 married couples in the state.
Contacting a Morris County alimony lawyer could help if you are considering or pursuing a divorce or legal separation from your spouse. An accomplished attorney could fight to ensure that the spousal support plan mandated in your divorce is appropriate and meets your needs.
What is the Purpose of Alimony?
Spousal support is typically awarded for two reasons. An allotment of alimony could help spouses maintain the same level of lifestyle that they experienced while married. This could be helpful to spouses who might otherwise go through a much more devastating life change than their ex-spouses after the divorce.
Alimony could dampen the financial consequences of divorce and spread the negative effects out as evenly as possible. Alimony may be designed so that one spouse does not experience the brunt of damages from the divorce. It may be important to contact a Morris County alimony attorney who could help secure a plan that is right for a person’s needs.
Calculating Alimony in Morris County
At present, there is no universal formula for calculating alimony in the state of New Jersey. Courts consider a wide variety of factors specific to each marriage situation. These factors are written out in the state’s statutes and include elements like the length of the marriage, the ability of each spouse to earn enough money for their personal needs, and each spouse’s level of education, as well as any existing and valid marital agreement or parenting plan for child custody.
By reviewing these factors, courts could get an accurate picture of the responsibilities of each spouse and decide on a fair allotment of spousal support. Courts may also consider the effect of taxes on alimony since the paying spouse could usually deduct alimony from their taxes while the receiving spouse is typically taxed on the alimony they receive. A local attorney could help a person decide the appropriate amount of alimony in their case.
A Morris County Alimony Attorney Could Help
While alimony is a topic that seems simple enough on the surface for many laypeople, it could become dense and difficult on closer inspection. Without an alimony lawyer experienced in divorce cases by their side, a divorcing spouse may not consider their homemaking contributions when calculating an acceptable spousal support plan. They may not understand the tax implications of a certain alimony plan, or they may ask for too little support without factoring in their own age and health issues.
If you are going through a divorce, do not hesitate to contact a Morris County alimony lawyer immediately. Local alimony attorneys who have been through similar situations in Morris County and beyond could help speed up the divorce process and work to achieve an equitable alimony plan, ultimately saving you both time and money. Call today to get started.
