While going through a divorce is sure to be emotionally exhausting, it may also be financially draining. If you need financial assistance during or after your divorce and your partner can provide it, the court may grant you alimony. You can retain the services of a Birmingham divorce lawyer to help you out with your claim.
The court may order the higher-paid spouse to support the lower-paid one for some time if that spouse has a more significant income.
Types of Alimony in Alabama
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Interim Assistance
This type of alimony, while the divorce is pending, refers to a temporary monetary support award. Temporary support from a spouse may only be granted if the petitioner can establish to the court that the other party can offer it and whether the marriage is legal. Temporary alimony payments may be retroactively awarded since filing a petition for interim alimony may take time. When the court makes a final order, temporary assistance ceases to exist.
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Alimony on a periodic basis
In the case of periodic alimony, one spouse pays the other a certain sum each week, biweekly, or monthly for a defined time. The most prevalent kind of alimony is “rehabilitative support,” a payment made to the spouse with the lower income. At the same time, they work toward obtaining the necessary training, education, or skills to sustain themselves. Rehabilitative assistance is prevalent when one partner has taken a leave of absence from employment to care for children.
The receiver of rehabilitative alimony in Alabama may only receive it for five years under the state’s new support regulations. Rehab is not feasible, or there are other grounds to deviate from the 5-year norm. The only exception to the new rule is that of rehabilitation. If the judge so decides, they may award spousal support for as long as the couple’s marriage lasts.
Permanent Alimony
Permanent alimony was widespread in the past, but courts are gradually phasing it away. If one of the parties is permanently disabled or too elderly to work and become self-sufficient, permanent alimony may still be a possibility for the marriage.
The court may provide perpetual alimony if a party can persuade it of the need for maintenance. The goal of alimony is to make sure that both parties can afford to maintain their standard of life while and after a divorce is finalized.
