During a divorce in Kentucky, a court could order one partner to pay alimony every month. Alimony, also called “spousal support,” is a financial obligation to help a spouse during or after a divorce. It helps the receiving spouse keep enjoying the life they have with their partner.
Usually, when we think of alimony, we think of money given to women. However, the rules about alimony are the same for both men and women.
How to figure out child support or alimony in Kentucky
In Kentucky, there is no fixed formula to calculate alimony.
Whether or not the court gives alimony, how much it gives, and how long it lasts depend on several things:
- How long they’ve been married
- The amount of child support, if any, that will be given
- Each party’s ability to make money, including their education, job training, and ability to get a job.
- Actual costs and ability to pay for each side
- What each person brought to the marriage (financial and non-financial)
- Division assets
- Tax consequences of alimony
- The length of time that the spouse who wants alimony hasn’t worked. Any income that either party gets from other sources.
The court can also look at other things, like how old and healthy each person is. The court will look at how well the couple lived while they were married.
In Kentucky, there are different types of alimony for different situations between two people.
Open Time-Based Support
In the past, divorce cases often involved alimony. From the beginning of the 1900s to the middle of the 1900s, most marriages had the same social dynamics. One person in the couple worked outside the home to bring in money. Usually, this was the man. The other spouse, who was usually the mother, stayed at home to take care of the kids.
After 20 years or more of taking care of her family from home, a mother may not be able to go back to work. Alimony acknowledges the value of unpaid work around the house and helps a spouse who couldn’t make enough money on their own to meet their needs.
Open-ended alimony can be given to a spouse if they were married for more than 20 years or if one of them needs money or can’t work because of a disability or lack of skills. Open-duration alimony lasts until the receiving spouse gets remarried, starts to cohabitate, or the paying spouse retires.
If something changes, either party can ask for the amount of open durational alimony to be changed.
Limited Duration Alimony
There are more working mothers now than ever before. As time goes on, couples make financial decisions based on their shared goals for their family and careers. Many parents know that being involved in their kids’ lives during early childhood development.
Most couples who are married share their money. Spouses can have a better standard of living than either of them could on their own because they share income and expenses. A spouse will get alimony for a certain amount of time while they move from sharing resources to being financially independent.
Limited duration alimony continues until a certain event occurs. Spousal support could go on until the other person gets a job. Most of the time, the length is only as long as the marriage. For example, a spouse who has been married for five years can only get alimony for five years.
If there is a change in circumstances, either party can ask the court to change the amount of alimony.
Alimony For Rehabilitation
Rehabilitative alimony is given for a limited time, usually until a spouse can get enough education or training to be able to support themselves financially. It will last as long as it is expected to take for the receiving spouse to finish school or training and get a job.
Reimbursement Of Benefits
If one spouse paid for the other to go to school or train for a job for a long time and expected to benefit from the other spouse’s higher income, they may be eligible for reimbursement alimony.
Alimony Vs. Spousal Support
Alimony, which is another name for “spousal support,” helps one partner keep up with the lifestyle of the other. Most of the time, it lasts until the person getting the money finishes school or training and can make more money. It can last longer for marriages of 20 years or more. In Kentucky, spousal support can’t last longer than how long the couple was married.
Alimony and support for a spouse are the same things. Usually, we think of alimony as money that a woman gets after a long marriage. You can still get this kind of alimony.
But as family life has changed, so has the way we talk.
Contact Paducah Divorce Lawyers, A McCracken County Family And Divorce Law Firm, For More Help.
Contact the family lawyers at Paducah Divorce Lawyers today if you need legal help. To make an appointment, you can come to our law office in McCracken County or call us at (270) 201-7776. to set up a free meeting with one of our team members.
