Receiving spousal support after a divorce is not a simple process in Texarkana. You will have to prove both your own financial need and your former spouse’s ability to pay in order to receive alimony under Arkansas law.
Retaining a skilled Texarkana spousal support lawyer could be key to getting the most out of your alimony agreement. A seasoned family attorney could help you collect evidence regarding your financial situation, present it to the court overseeing your case, and effectively pursue the outcome that serves your best interests.
Courts can take many different factors into account when deciding on an appropriate amount of support to grant for each case, including:
Unlike many other states, Arkansas does not have a standardized formula for calculating spousal support, nor are there any gender restrictions on which spouse is allowed to request support.
However, these common factors should be considered guidelines rather than rules, since courts have a great deal of leeway when it comes to determining what is relevant to a spousal support determination and what is not. A local spousal support attorney could help an individual argue that certain factors should be prioritized over others, whether in pursuit of alimony or in opposition to it being awarded in the first place.
The most straightforward form of alimony awarded in Texarkana is temporary alimony, which is ordered while the divorce process is still ongoing and ends once that process concludes. This support is meant solely to ease the transition from married to single life for a lower-earning spouse, allowing them to prepare to support themselves without having to worry about affording basic living expenses in the immediate future.
Once a court finalizes a divorce agreement, it may order rehabilitative spousal support if the lower-earner is not yet ready to support themselves alone but could reach that status with additional education and/or job training. Rehabilitative support is supposed to last only until they have enough new knowledge to be self-sustaining. Therefore, these types of alimony orders have either a firm end-date or a date on which the lower-earning spouse’s needs will be reevaluated.
Finally, if a marriage lasted for an exceptionally long time, or if the court believes a lower-earning spouse cannot realistically be expected to ever support themselves, the court may order the higher-earner to pay permanent alimony. This could last until the recipient either remarries, begins receiving support from someone else, or passes away. It has become increasingly rare for courts to award spousal support on a permanent basis, but an alimony lawyer in Texarkana might be able to help pursue this type of arrangement if the circumstances deem it appropriate.
Spousal support is not guaranteed to be a component of every divorce process, especially if both parties have their own established careers and can support themselves without assistance. However, if you need this support, or if you need to contest the notion that your former spouse needs it, retaining skilled legal counsel could make all the difference in whether you can obtain the outcome you want out of your case.
A Texarkana spousal support lawyer could explain every detail of how Arkansas law governs alimony orders and what you could do to secure the right order for your circumstances. Call today to schedule a meeting and discuss your situation.
