The North Carolina alimony law is straightforward to begin with, but can be complicated once you get down to the nitty gritty. In most circumstances, the court has discretion over the amount awarded, and to a certain extent, the reason alimony is awarded.
The law spells out 16 reasons why the court will support a claim for alimony, including:
– Illicit sexual behavior
– Income for both spouses
– Age of both spouses
– Health of both spouses
– Misconduct
– Standard of living established during the marriage
One of the major factors the court considers is the duration of the marriage. If the parties have been together for many years and are divorcing simply because they do not get along, the court will consider alimony to “equalize” the income for both parties. Again, age does play a part in this, as it is difficult to pay alimony if the couple is on a fixed retirement income.
On the other hand, if one of the spouses is considerably older than the other, and the younger spouse has a good income, the court could be persuaded to order the younger spouse, whether male or female, to pay alimony. The reasoning behind this is so that the older, retired spouse may live in the manner in which he or she had become used to during the marriage.
If the retired spouse brings in excellent retirement pay, especially if it is more than the younger spouse makes, the court is not as likely to award alimony to the older spouse, but may require the older spouse to pay the younger spouse alimony.
Before you take any action in your divorce proceedings, if the complaint requests alimony or other relief you feel is not fair, contact a Raleigh divorce attorney to help you make the right decisions regarding the divorce. This attorney can defend you against an alimony claim.
