In Alabama, there is no minimum time limit that the parties must have been married for the lesser-earning spouse to be awarded alimony (spousal support). A former spouse can receive alimony whether the parties were married one year or over 20 years.
Alabama Code 30-2-57 limits rehabilitative alimony to a period not to exceed five years, absent extraordinary circumstances. Rehabilitative, or periodic, alimony is meant to provide support to a spouse who is expected to be able to support themselves economically by a predicted point. Such alimony provides an amount that enables the party to have the ability to preserve the economic status quo of the parties as it existed during the marriage.
There are times when rehabilitation is not feasible, a good faith attempt at rehabilitation fails, or good faith rehabilitation only allows a party to partially develop the ability to preserve the economic status quo of the parties as it existed during the marriage. If any of these situations occur, the court will award the lesser-earning party rehabilitative alimony for a period not to exceed the length of the marriage, as of the date of the filing of the complaint. The exception is if a party is married for 20 years or longer, there is no time limit as to how long they can receive rehabilitative alimony.
The other type of alimony is interim alimony. Interim alimony is meant to provide support to the lesser-earning spouse while the divorce proceeding is taking place. The court may make an award of interim alimony retroactive to the date of the filing of the complaint. An order awarding interim alimony automatically terminates when the court enters its final judgment, the plaintiff voluntarily dismisses all pending claims, or the divorce proceedings come to a permanent end for another reason.
The factors that determine the amount of interim or rehabilitative alimony include:
- whether the lesser-earning spouse does not have a separate estate or their separate estate is insufficient to allow them to develop the ability to preserve the economic status quo as it existed during the marriage
- the other party has the ability to supply the means to support their former spouse, without suffering undue economic hardship themselves and
- the circumstances of the case make it equitable.
When deciding whether a party has a sufficient separate estate, the court will review:
- the party’s individual assets
- marital property (property owned by the couple during the marriage) that the party received or was awarded
- the liabilities of the party following the distribution of marital property
- the party’s ability to earn a living, taking into account their age, health, education, and work experience as well as prevailing work conditions
- benefits that will assist the party to obtain and maintain gain employment
- that the party has primary physical custody of a child in a circumstance that makes it appropriate for the party not to be required to seek work outside the home and
- any other factor the court deems equitable under the circumstances.
When determining whether the greater-earning spouse can pay alimony, the court will consider:
- the greater-earning party’s assets, except assets protected by federal law from use for payment of alimony
- the party’s liabilities following the distribution of marital property
- the party’s net income
- the party’s ability to earn a living, considering their age, health, education, professional licensing, work history, family commitments, and prevailing economic conditions
- whether the party has primary physical custody of a child in a circumstance that makes it appropriate for the party not to be required to seek work outside the home and
- any other factor the court deems equitable under the circumstances.
When ordering the award of rehabilitative alimony, the court will consider:
- the length of the marriage
- the standard of living that the parties became accustomed to during the marriage
- the relative fault of the parties for the end of the marriage
- the age and health of the parties
- the future employment prospects of the parties
- the contribution of the lesser-earning party to the education or earning ability of the other.
- the extent to which the lesser-earning party reduced their income or career for the benefit of the other or the family
- abnormal costs, destruction, concealment, or fraudulent disposition of property
- actual damages and judgments from behavior that resulted in the criminal conviction of either spouse in which the other spouse or child or children of the marriage were victims.
- any other factors the court deems equitable under the circumstances.
Rehabilitative alimony terminates when the lesser-earning spouse gets remarried or upon the death of either spouse as well. If you are preparing for a divorce and have questions about alimony, then your divorce attorney in Montgomery, or wherever you reside in Alabama, can help.
