No One Gets Rich From Rehabilitative Alimony

No matter how long a couple was married, the purpose of divorce is to dissolve their financial entanglements with each other. The longer the marriage lasted, the more complicated this process is. If the marriage was brief, the divorce court can simply untangle their financial partnership to make it seem like the marriage had never happened. If the parties were married for decades and are close to retirement age, the divorce court must divide the marital property to sustain each spouse separately during retirement; they both deserve a retirement lifestyle as similar as possible to what they had during the marriage, regardless of which spouse earned more money. If the parties are young enough and healthy enough to work, the assumption is that they will. Therefore, rehabilitative alimony is one of the most common types of alimony in Alabama divorce cases. If the court awarded rehabilitative alimony in your divorce case, but it failed to solve your financial problems or your conflicts with your ex-spouse, contact a Birmingham divorce lawyer.

How Is Rehabilitative Alimony Different From Other Kinds of Alimony?

The purpose of rehabilitative alimony is to facilitate the recipient spouse’s return to the workforce, so that he or she can become financially independent of the paying spouse. It lasts a maximum of five years, representing the time the recipient completes the training and certification for a new job and gradually increases his or her income after starting work. It often means that the recipient spouse lives more modestly ten years after the divorce becomes final than he or she did during the marriage.

What Happens When Both Spouses Get Poorer After One Spouse Pays Rehabilitative Alimony?

Rehabilitative alimony cannot work miracles. One of the most frequent complaints among rehabilitative alimony recipients is that the family courts have unrealistic expectations about the labor market. James and Julia’s story highlights the things that can go wrong with rehabilitative alimony. They were married for 22 years, and the court ordered James to pay Julia five years of rehabilitative alimony; because of the length of the marriage, it also awarded her a share of his military pension. Julia took courses to improve her English and trained for various jobs, but James’s failure to pay alimony in a timely manner forced her to abandon her studies several times and also required her to relocate. The problem was that James suffered financial hardships of his own, and his inability to pay was beyond his control. The court ordered him to pay arrearages, but this did not restore Julia’s financial situation to how it would have been if James had always paid on time. Sometimes, even after divorce, one spouse’s financial hardships affect both spouses.

Contact Peeples Law About Divorce Cases Involving Rehabilitative Alimony

A Birmingham family law attorney can help you if the court ordered your ex-spouse to pay rehabilitative alimony, but now you are both in bad financial shape after the rehabilitative alimony has ended.  Contact Peeples Law in Birmingham, Alabama today to schedule a consultation.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5090007389599075518&q=divorce+depression&hl=en&as_sdt=4,61,62,64&as_ylo=2015&as_yhi=2025