Alimony
If you desire guidance as to your right to receive or your responsibility to pay alimony in a Indiana divorce case, contact Indianapolis family law attorney Tony Zirkle for legal guidance and thorough representation.
At all thirteen Indiana locations of The Law Offices of Tony Zirkle, we always make a thoughtful inspection of your family law issues and counsel you about alimony after examining the facts regarding each spouse's income and ability for self-sufficiency. Under Indiana law, a divorcing spouse's right to financial support is ascertained according to one spouse's necessities and the other spouse's ability to pay. However, in most cases, alimony payments are awarded for no more than 3 years because 3 years is regarded as the greatest period necessary for a spouse who has been out of work for a long duration.
Yet, it should be noted that, in a long-term marriage, where the spouse who needs spousal maintenance payments was a stay-at-home mother or father for a long duration, and is now too old to effectively contend the job market, alimony payments might be court ordered for more than 3 years and may even be awarded permanently, subject to periodic review by the family court.
Age, education, disability, and work history are all factors that will be considered when deciding whether alimony should be ordered and when deciding the length of the of alimony payments. Additionally, in cases where it is clear that the court will order alimony for a period extending beyond 3 years, it is usually wise to negotiate spousal maintenance payments collectively with division of the marital assets. Considerations such as marginal tax rates, capital gains, and additional items may be mirrored in the negotiated settlement so they can be maximized in the overall value of the marital estate for each spouse.
It is important to remember that alimony payments cease upon the remarriage of the spouse getting maintenance, but alimony payments always can be modified in the meantime upon a demonstrating fundamentally changed circumstances. Indeed, these changes can recognize a large increase or decrease in one spouse´s income, health problems, or other conditions indicating changes either in the receiving spouse's needs or the paying spouse's ability to continue living with the original level of support.
Whether negotiated or ordered by the court, alimony payments may be instituted through the family court's contempt power. For experienced and trustworthy client service in a divorce case that likely will present disputes concerning spousal maintenance, contact The Law Offices of Tony Zirkle in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana.
The Indianapolis, Indiana Divorce attorney information offered by The Law Office of Tony Zirkle and contained herein, regarding Indianapolis, Indiana Divorce lawyer statutes and claimants' rights is general in scope. No attorney/client relationship with our Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana Divorce attorney is hereby formed nor is the Divorce attorney information herein intended as formal legal advice.