Casa Grande Spousal Support Attorney

How a Casa Grande Attorney Can Help

Are you looking to establish or modify your spousal support agreement? In the event that you and your spouse divorce, you will inevitably have to address the issue of financial support. Now that you will no longer be living off of one shared income, finances can be extremely tight and that is where spousal support comes into play. Spousal support, also referred to as alimony, is when one spouse is order to by the court to pay the other spouse a predetermined amount of money every month.

When you and your spouse first separate, you may need to request temporary support until the case goes to trial, when you can revisit the issue in more depth and implement a more permanent support agreement. You cannot request support from a spouse however, until one party files for a separation, divorce or an annulment. If you need experienced legal assistance with your divorce case, primarily in the area of spousal support, then you have come to the right place. Consult with a Casa Grande lawyer from our firm today to discuss your case in detail.

How do they determine Spousal support in Arizona?

In the state of Arizona, they take several different factors into consideration when determining who should pay spousal support and how much support is to be paid. When calculating temporary spousal support, the court will generally use a computer software program and just plug in the numbers. For permanent support orders however, the court considers multiple factors and investigates further into the specific case at hand.

The main determining aspects will include:

• The standard of living during the marriage
• The length of time that the marriage lasted
• The age and employment history of both spouses
• The earning capability of both spouses
• The physical and mental health of both parties
• The financial assets and debts of both parties
• The time it would take for a spouse to receive education for employment
• The party's ability to pay maintenance
• The contributions of the party seeking maintenance
• The cost of health insurance for the requesting party
• The tax repercussions of the divorce/separation
• The misconduct of one party during the marriage (ex: domestic violence)

These are some determining elements that the law takes into consideration when handling a permanent order of spousal support. If circumstances have significantly changed for either party since the original court order however, the court will consider revisiting the issue. These circumstances could include a remarriage, a loss of employment, a cut in wages, or that the other spouse is not searching for employment. To have your spousal support payments terminated, you must show the court that the other spouse has either remarried, entered into a domestic partnership or has since deceased. If you require legal assistance with establishing or modifying your spousal support agreement, then contact Sutton Law, P.C. today for experience you can count on.