New York Alimony Lawyer
If you are facing divorce, and spousal support may be part of your case, it’s important to understand how courts go about ordering spousal support in New York. Our alimony lawyer at Rusk, Wadlin, Heppner & Martuscello, LLP have extensive experience representing individuals who are seeking spousal support pursuant to divorce, as well as those who are contesting it. Read on for more information about New York spousal support laws.
Determining Spousal Support in New York
Spousal support, formerly called alimony and sometimes referred to as spousal maintenance (New York’s legal term for spousal support), is money one spouse or former spouse may be required to pay the other spouse during and/or after divorce. While a divorce case is pending, temporary maintenance may be ordered to cover the immediate financial needs of the supported spouse, and after a divorce is complete, the supported spouse may be awarded post-divorce maintenance.
For temporary spousal support, courts use a statutory formula for calculating awards unless the calculated amount is “unjust or inappropriate.” Then other factors, such as standard of living, age, and earning capabilities, may be taken into consideration. For post-divorce spousal support, there is no fixed formula. Rather, courts weigh the following factors:
- Income and property of both spouses
- Length of the marriage
- Age and health of both spouses
- Present and future income of both spouses
- The ability of the receiving spouse to become self-supporting
- Acts by one spouse that inhibit the other from achieving employment (e.g. domestic violence)
- The existence of a pre-marital joint household
- Loss of income of the receiving spouse as a result of giving up a career (e.g. if one spouse stayed home to care for the children instead of working a fulltime job)
- Whether there are children from the marriage that live in the marital home
- Whether there are disabled children, adult children, elderly, or in-laws who require care
- Additional child-related costs, such as schooling, daycare, or medical expenses
- Contributions made by the receiving spouse (e.g. if the spouse was a homemaker and does not receive a fixed income)
- Waste of property by either spouse (e.g. if one spouse lost marital funds through gambling)
- The loss of health insurance benefits as a result of the divorce
- The tax consequences to each spouse as a result of paying or receiving spousal support
- Any transfer of property by either spouse that is unfair (e.g. one spouse hides assets)
- Any other factor the court believes is relevant to the decision
In most cases, spousal support is durational—paid for a fixed period of time—and ends based on the idea that the receiving spouse will become self-supporting at some point in the future.
Contact Us for Help with Spousal Support Lawyers in New York
If you’re facing divorce, and spousal support may be an issue in your case, please contact Rusk, Wadlin, Heppner & Martuscello, LLP to schedule a consultation. Our alimony lawyer serves clients throughout the Hudson Valley.
