NY Spousal Support Lawyer
Are you a divorcee that is looking to get a fair settlement when your relationship is over? If this is what you seek, you need to both research the laws in New York and also get in touch with an NY spousal support lawyer that can help you. This is a type of law that becomes necessary if you feel entitled to certain provisions after the breakdown of the marriage. To tackle this situation and be sure that your rights are cared for, you can get in touch with Todd Spodek and his nationally recognized law firm. Think about these strategies and give Spodek a call.
How Does Spousal Support Work?
As a general rule of thumb, the spouse who brings in a higher paycheck would be the one ordered to give their ex-spouse a payment each month called spousal support (it used to be called alimony). This typically only happens when one spouse makes substantially more money than the other spouse. A common family situation in which this applies is when a husband works and his wife works as a homemaker to care for the children throughout their entire marriage. In this situation, the wife never earned any substantial income. In the initial years after the divorce, she would not be able to bring the kind of money the way her husband did to support the quality of life she and/or the children are accustomed to living. In such a scenario, the husband can be ordered by the family court to pay Spousal Support.
Orders for Temporary Maintenance
In some divorce cases in New York, temporary maintenance might be ordered by a judge or agreed to between the spouses. Temporary maintenance is meant to assist a spouse in a divorce case with meeting their most immediate financial needs. The amount is based on a consideration of those needs, coupled with a recognition of that spouse’s right to maintain the standard of living that they became accustomed to during the course of the marriage.
The state of New York has established very detailed guidelines in connection to temporary maintenance. The guidelines include a worksheet designed to calculate the amount of maintenance that should be awarded on a temporary basis while divorce proceedings are taking place.
Temporary maintenance typically stays in effect until the final divorce decree is handed down in a case. In some cases, a temporary maintenance order could be altered or even eliminated in advance of the final divorce decree.
In general, in divorce proceedings, a court must follow the temporary maintenance guidelines established by New York legislation. The court is able to stray away from the state-mandated temporary maintenance guidelines as the result of the guidelines calculation proving to be unjust or inappropriate in real application.
#1: Contact the law firm to get a feel for their experience
Your first step if you are seeking spousal support is to find a law firm that understands this as a specialty. Family law firms in New York handle everything from divorce, divorce mediation and child support to child custody, spousal support and protective orders. Family law is so multifaceted so never go forward with this sort of situation without the blessing and assistance of a law firm that you trust to help you with this.
When you contact these lawyers, they will provide you a consultation, which gives you the chance to explain every part of your case. At this point, they can begin representing you and will reach out to the other party to figure out what is necessary to get you the payment that you deserve.
#2: Understand what criteria must be proved in the case
There are a lot of factors that the judge will consider when you are filing a petition for spousal support. First and foremost, the courts will assess your standard of living enjoyed while married to your spouse. This will play a huge role in the amount of spousal support, if any that you are entitled to. They will also ascertain your ability to continue earning an income based on your current living situation.
Some other factors in determining your Spousal Support and support include how long you were married, how old you and your spouse are, health factors and what light variables were sacrificed during the course of the marriage.
Do All Divorce Cases Include Alimony or Spousal Support Orders?
The ordering of Spousal Support order (sometimes known as spousal maintenance and commonly referred to in the past as alimony) is certainly not an obligatory part of a NY divorce. The family court will take a number of factors under consideration when deciding whether, to what extent, and for what length of time Spousal Support would be appropriate. Some of the factors they will consider include:
- The general health and age of each of the spouses
- The length of time the spouses were married to each other
- The children in the marriage who are now going to reside or have visit in the respective homes of the ex-spouses
- Any additional living expenses for the child/children. These can including but are by no means limited to private school tuition and costs of school supplies, books and uniforms, daycare or babysitting, and necessary medical treatment
- The petitioning party’s capability of getting themselves to be self-supporting and, if necessary, any time and training they would need to get them to a point of self-sufficiency.
- The equitable distribution of the community or marital estate
#3: Make sure you are eligible for support and stay in touch with your lawyer
Your lawyer will let you know during the consultation whether they feel that you have a case or not. Never go forward with a petition without first consulting with a law firm. When you have this matter handled first and foremost, you will be better able to make the right decisions regarding your New York spousal support situation. Contact a lawyer to see what kind of legal standing you have when deciding to move forward with such a case. This way, you understand the parameters and will also have someone you can trust to field any kind of questions that you have as the process continues to play out inside and outside of court.
These cases can be tricky, which is why it is so important to contact Todd Spodeck Or any family law firm that you think is equipped to help you out with this. These firms understand New York family law as it pertains to spousal support, so think about these factors and hire the right lawyer for you.
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