There’s No Crystal Ball
Without fail, divorce clients who walk through our door want to know what is going to happen with alimony. The spouse who makes less money obviously wants to know whether he or she is going to get enough money to cover all expenses and then some. The spouse who makes the money wants to keep as much of that money for himself or herself as possible and wants to avoid giving up as much money as possible.
The problem is, we don’t have a crystal ball. No one does, and that would be the only way to know what is going to happen.
There are some guidelines that apply but every situation is different.
- In situations where both spouses make sufficient money to care for themselves, the court will generally try to make sure that any alimony award provides a similar standard of living for the spouses.
- In situations where one spouse clearly earns more than the other the court will try to make an award that provides for the needs of the less wealthy spouse without bankrupting the higher earner. If the higher earning spouse makes plenty of money for both spouses the court will try to equalize their standard of living.
- In situations where the incomes of the two spouses is not sufficient to provide for the needs of both spouses, the court will basically equalize the income of the parties.
There Are No Winners
The sad fact is that when it comes to an alimony award there are no winners. The marital estate only has so much money, and when it has to be split up to provide for two households instead of one, there is a natural depletion that takes place. Most households take a serious hit because most people are not millionaires. Divorce is simply not a means to gain a financial advantage. For more questions regarding alimony, feel free to setup a free phone consultation with one of our Utah divorce lawyers. 801.413.1753.
