Alimony is a commonly-used term for payments that one spouse must make to another spouse after a divorce ends in order to help the receiving spouse adjust to life on their own following divorce. In California, alimony is technically referred to as spousal support or sometimes spousal maintenance. Before we discuss how long a person has to pay spousal support after a divorce in California, the first step is to discuss when it is available.
When Spousal Support is Available in California
Spousal support are payments that go above and beyond the 50/50 separation of a couple’s community property (which includes all property that either spouse earned during the marriage or acquired with earnings during the marriage, including retirement benefits later paid out). In fact, the total amount of spousal support payments one spouse pays another may well be worth more than the total amount of community property divided between the spouses, especially when there is a large differential in incomes between the spouses and they are relatively young with limited savings.
California courts do not always award spousal support, but, unlike other states, California will award spousal support as a way of maintaining the living standard of the marriage (at least temporarily) and not simply when it is necessary for financial survival. Both men and women may receive spousal support, as well as those spouses in same-sex unions and marriages.
The Duration of Spousal Support in California
Family courts in California have wide discretion in setting not only the amount of spousal support to be paid on a periodic basis (it is usually ordered to be paid once or twice a month) but also in the total duration of the payments. A general rule of thumb, however, is that California courts, on average, will award spousal support to be paid for half the length of the marriage, give or take several years. Thus, if you have been married ten years, four to six years of support may well be ordered.
That said, many divorcing couples work together to create their own separation agreement which definitively lays out both the amount and duration of spousal support to be paid, which will then be approved and ordered by the court. It can be easy to focus on the duration of the spousal support in reaching such agreements, when in fact the total amount of spousal support ordered over time and other issues are generally more important (e.g. five years of $1,000 payments is far less than three years of $3,500 payments).
Work with an experienced California family law attorney to help create a settlement agreement and/or represent you in California family court to make sure your rights and interests are protected.
For any questions on family law in California, contact the Law Office of Kelley C. Finan today to schedule a consultation to discuss your circumstances.