Spousal support

1. If one spouse is better educated or has an established career, can the other receive spousal support to get prepared for a stable foundation? Marriage is a partnership, and even when it ends, parenting is still a partnership. Putting both parents on an equal footing helps the children. Transitional spousal support enables a spouse to get an education or start himself or herself in a career, and the reasons for including it in your divorce agreement should be spelled out in that document.
2. What if one spouse has contributed to the education of the other spouse, but the divorce happens before the other spouse has had a chance to earn the income that both spouses were eventually counting on? You have to give the other spouse the benefit of his or her bargain, especially if you already have yours. You can qualify for compensatory spousal support if you made an investment in your spouse’s betterment and couldn’t stick around long enough to see it come to fruition.
3. Is it true that spousal support is given for half the length of the marriage? Regardless of what is discussed by the Supreme Court of Soccer Moms or the High Tribunal of Bitter Dads, there is nothing in the law that mandates a particular formula for the length of spousal support. Nonetheless, it tends to shake out to about half the duration of the marriage.
4. Does the health of either spouse have any bearing on spousal support awards? Occasionally, the law actually gets it right. The child-centered answer and the law-centered answer agree. Yes, the law supports taking better financial care of your children’s parent if that parent is ill.
5. What are the tax implications of spousal support? Spousal support is taxable to the receiver and tax-deductible to the payer. It may make sense for child support or spousal support to shift to alter the tax burden for both spouses.