Spousal Support In Virginia Fairfax Attorney

Spousal support is the term used for payments or transfers of money or assets from one partner to another after a divorce. You may be more familiar with the word “alimony,” or the term “maintenance”, which are the same as “spousal support”.

Spousal support is not to be confused with child support or the division of assets. There are varying lengths of time one may pay or collect alimony depending on the circumstances surrounding each marriage and divorce.

Virginia courts must first determine whether the party seeking spousal support is eligible to receive it—by looking at the factors and circumstances that contributed to the dissolution of the marriage.

Adultery by one partner will usually, although not always, bar that partner from receiving alimony.

If the party seeking spousal support is not barred from receiving it, the court must then determine the nature, amount and duration of a potential spousal support award, by considering the factors found in Virginia Code § 20-107.1.

These factors are :

• Obligations, needs and financial resources of the partners, including income from pension, profit-sharing or retirement plans.
• Standard of living established during the marriage.
• Duration of the marriage.
• Age and physical and mental condition of the spouses, and any special family circumstances.
• Each spouse’s contributions, monetary and nonmonetary, to the well-being of the family.
• Each spouse’s financial assets.
• Provisions made with regard to the distribution of the marital property.
• Extent to which age, a condition of special circumstances of any child of the spouses would make it appropriate for one spouse to stay home.
• The extent to which either spouse contributed to the other’s education, training, career position or profession.
• The spouses’ earning capacity and the current employment opportunities for people with that earning capacity.
• Opportunity for and the ability of the spouses to get education and training to enhance earning ability.
• Decisions regarding work and parenting that the spouses made during the marriage, and their effect on earning potential, including the length of time either spouse has been out of the job market.
• Provisions made with regard to the distribution of the marital property.
• Any other factors, including the tax consequences to each spouse, necessary to arrive at a fair result.

How is spousal support determined in Virginia?

Spouses can decide on an amount themselves and include it in their marital settlement agreement. If they don’t, a judge will determine the amount of alimony to be paid, if any. In either case, the advice of an aggressive and knowledgeable attorney will be to your advantage.

Duration of Spousal Support

Under Virginia Code § 20-107.1, the same factors that govern the court in determining an amount of alimony also govern it in determining the duration of maintenance. However, there are no hard and fast guidelines for determining either the amount or duration of alimony in the Commonwealth of Virginia following a divorce. The basic consideration for determining who pays, how much, and the duration of maintenance is based on partner’s financial need balanced against the other’s ability to pay and also on the reasons aforementioned above.

If you need a Virginia Spousal Support lawyer to help you with your Spousal Support case in Virginia, call us at 888-437-7747. Our Virginia Spousal Support attorneys can help you. C