Orange County Spousal Support Lawyer

Who pays spousal support (alimony) in California?

There are two types of support in a divorce. Temporary Spousal Support, formally known as pendente lite support, is meant to support the lower earning spouse during the divorce process. Once a final divorce judgment is filed, the court can order Permanent Spousal Support.

Temporary Spousal Support is meant to support a spouse throughout the pendency of a divorce case and is designed to maintain the status quo.

Permanment Spousal Support is meant to allow both spouses to achieve the marital standard of living, while also recognizing that each person has a duty to become self supporting.

How is temporary spousal support determined?

In theory, temporary spousal support is meant to allow each spouse to maintain the status quo at time of divorce. In practice, this can be hard to quantify. Family courts are busy and do not often have time to take a deep dive into every case at every hearing. To streamline the process and make sure that spouses get the support they need quickly efficiently, courts often apply the guideline formula used in child support cases to set a temporary spousal support amount.

How is permanent spousal support determined?

There is no precise calculation. It is a determination based vaguely on the need of the party receiving support and the ability of the payor. Under Family Code Section 4320, there are a whole host of factors that courts must consider that can sway the support amount upwards or downwards.

Some of the relevant considerations are:

• Gross annual income
• Marital standard of living
• Ages and relative health of the parties
• Skills, education, and ability to earn
• Ability to become self-supporting
• Duration of marriage
• History of domestic violence

The full list of factors is goverened by Family Code Section 4320.