Today’s question deals with alimony and the question that was presented is this, “do I automatically get alimony if I am getting divorced after being married for 10 years or longer in Palo Alto, CA?”
According to Palo Alto Divorce Lawyers “there is a lot of misconceptions in the USA that we need to have a divorce that is longer 10 years or longer before we can even entertain asking for alimony payments.”
And so therefore the answer to this question for today is no you do not need to be married 10 years to get alimony in the USA.
We have seen alimony awarded for just a one year marriage and we have seen alimony not awarded for a marriage that was 15 years. So it just depends. And the reason for this is that the Polo Alto doesn’t have a set formula to calculate child support, to calculate spousal support. So therefore we have to allow the judges to look at every case on a case by case basis. So therefore the judge looks at a multitude of factors 11 of them to be precise and only one of them is the length of the marriage in order to decide if alimony will be awarded.
Make Sure You Request the Alimony in Your Complaint For Divorce
So again Polo Alto doesn’t have a set formula for alimony and therefore that makes it a little bit difficult. So you have to do if you are asking for alimony and wanting alimony in your divorce case is one make sure that you request the alimony in your complaint for divorce if you are the one starting the divorce.
And if you are the one being served with divorce papers make sure that you also include a request for alimony in your answer and counter claim for divorce. That way you are not given up the right later on in your case if you for example don’t ask for it in the beginning, you may not be able to ask for later. So be sure to just include it there.
Make Sure You Have A Lot Of Proof
And the second thing we would suggest is that if you are asking for alimony make sure that you have a lot of proof before when you got to court to make sure that you are meeting the necessity.
Alimony is based on the fact that a person can pay and the need of the person who is looking to receive the alimony. So if you are asking for alimony make sure that you support your complaint and your argument for alimony with proof of necessity. And if you are the one that is asking to have to pay alimony make sure that you show the judge that you are strapped monthly that you have obligations and that you are living pay check to pay check and not able to afford alimony payments.
Conclusion
So again remember alimony is not a set formula in Polo Alto. It is decided by the judges on a case by case basis. And so therefore remember to ask for it at the beginning and make sure that you have proof of why you should receive it or why you cannot pay it.
