How to Avoid Paying Alimony in Virginia Lawyer

Alimony or spousal support are payments made to the ex-spouses in order to support themselves. Depending on the facts and circumstances of each case, either the ex-wife or ex-husband will be ordered by the court to pay a stipulated amount. In most cases, it is difficult between the parties to reach an agreement and requires the services of an experienced lawyer to handle the issue. In other words, the intervention of the court becomes imperative.

It should be understood that spousal support is not a form of punishment but a responsibility to maintenance the spouse so that their lifestyle continues to be the same as it was during the marriage. Spousal support can be withdrawn when the spouse is able to maintenance himself/herself.

If you think that the spousal support ordered on you is unjust and that your ex-spouse has every means to maintenance himself/herself, then there are a few ways that you can avoid it.

Prove that you are earning less than your spouse:

You can avoid paying spousal support or alimony if you can prove successfully that you were not the main breadwinner of the family.
The Code of Virginia is unbiased on the gender where spousal and child maintenance is concerned. Therefore, there are presumptions as to who should be paying it. The Code of Virginia § 20-108.1 gives a clear picture of the scenario.

When your ex-spouse gets married:

If the ex-spouse remarries, the court will end the alimony payments. Under the Code of Virginia § 20-109, subsection D, it has been stated: “spousal support and maintenance shall terminate upon the death of either party or remarriage of the spouse receiving support.”

Evaluation of the ex-spouse:

As per the Code of Virginia § 20-108.1, subsection H, get the court to do a vocational evaluation on the spouse. This evaluation will help prove to the court the spouse’s skills. This could mean that the court may order alimony for a reasonable period of time and get a reimbursement as well.

Get the spouse to acquire skills:

Help the spouse to get some vocational training so that the spouse can be self-supporting.

Retirement:

When divorcing close to retirement age, it is best to retire so that you can show the court that your income has reduced to a great extent.

Avoid paying alimony if the marriage was short:

You can avoid paying alimony if your marriage did not last long. In other words, both the parties to the marriage would not have been dependent on each other financially and therefore could do away with spousal support.

Why do you need spousal support lawyers?

It is necessary that you have an experienced spousal support lawyer to deal with your case. There are too many ways available to help you avoid paying alimony but not all of it will be successful in your case. Only an experienced attorney can work it out favorably for you. C