Spousal support is defined as a monthly payment of money made from one spouse to the other. Some people also refer to it as alimony, but in Alaska, it is known as spousal support. The court may order spousal support to be paid before the divorce is final, after the divorce, or both. But typically, the court orders spousal support for a specific purpose and a limited amount of time.
Moreover, the court will decide if you need it and whether it is just. The court examines many factors for both you and your former spouse which may include:
- The length of the marriage;
- The standard of living that was established during the marriage;
- The age and health of you and your spouse;
- The earning capacity of you and your spouse, including educational background, training, employment skills, work experiences, length of absence from the job market;
- The custody responsibilities for children during the marriage;
- The financial situation of you and your spouse, including the availability and the cost of health insurance;
- The conduct of you and your spouse, including whether there has been unreasonable spending or destruction of marital assets;
- division of property; and
- other factors the judge decides are relevant to your case
Alimony may be described as financial support paid by, or to, your spouse. The judge can grant spousal support as part of a dissolution proceeding if both parties already agreed upon an amount and the judge has considered whether the spousal maintenance takes into consideration the factors below.
If you or your spouse request spousal support in the divorce proceeding, the judge will consider certain factors mentioned above to determine a fair alimony award.
What Types of Support is Available in Alaska?
The Alaskan Courts list two kinds of spousal support available; one of them is rehabilitation support and the other one is reorientation support. Rehabilitation support is the money that pays for job training or school. The concept is that you will utilize the money to obtain skills to work or move up in your job.
But, if you do not use the money for school, the court can take it away. You usually need to inform the court what your work goal is, how the school or training program meets that goal, and the length of time it will take to finish the program. You can receive rehabilitation support for the reasonable time it takes to complete the degree program. This is generally up to four years.
Next, reorientation support is the money that helps you get used to living on less money than when you were married. This money is paid for a short period, usually a year or less, and generally when the division of marital property does not meet one party’s needs. For instance, reorientation support may provide a party temporary money while he waits to sell the house.
Furthermore, in most cases support is for a specific amount of time. Rehabilitation support typically lasts for the time it will take to complete school or job training. Reorientation support lasts for one year at most. The courts generally order spousal support for a specific length of time and purpose. If you want the court to modify or no longer require spousal support you have to file the necessary forms to fulfill this request.
Lastly, in the state of Alaska, alimony is received after a divorce, or another legal gesture that declares the marriage void, only if the marriage and the resulting divorce, follow several requirements. Depending on which of the requirements of the law that the marriage and divorce fall under, the court may mandate the payment by either or both parties of any amount of money or goods, in lump sum or payments that may include adjustments according to the current cost-of-living, as the court and judge see fit.
One major issue that the court will take into consideration is the custody of any children from the marriage. The size, frequency, and requirement of any payments a spouse will be ruled to pay to the other will mainly depend on which spouse receives custody.
How Does the Alaskan Court Decide on Alimony Payments?
The court may necessitate that the party making the payments arrange for their employers to make an automatic deduction of their payroll each month or pay period of the amount of the payment. If the employer agrees, the amount will be transferred from the employer to the court for the benefiting spouse’s retrieval.
Moreover, the ruling of payment also depends on which spouse is at fault for the collapse of the marriage, their economic standing, and the effect the divorce itself has had on both parties. The payments can be based on the length of the marriage and the commitment, monetarily and socially, that both spouses have given to the marriage and well being of each other as stated earlier.
Additionally, the age and health of both parties are considered, for if the party at fault is physically incapable of earning sufficient funds to make payments, that will be taken into consideration, a fact that also falls under the requirement of the earning capacity of both parties, which is taken into consideration of the payments.
If either spouse has unreasonably depleted assets of the marriage, it will be noted in the ruling as well. The judge can also include, at his discretion, the present value of retirement benefits in either spouse’s estate value when considering the ruling.
As in most states, in Alaska, alimony is granted at the final judgment of the judge deciding the case. In the state of Alaska, several factors are taken into account when calculating the amount and duration of alimony or spousal support payments as stated above.
How is Alimony Calculated in Alaska?
Alaska has a defined list of factors, described in statutory law, that are legally required to be considered by a judge when determining alimony payments. These factors may be directly connected to the alimony calculation formula. But, Alaska does not consider marital fault when determining alimony payments. This implies that divorces considered “at-fault” due to cheating or infidelity, abuse, or other factors do not impact the calculation of alimony payments.
Furthermore, the standard of living is considered when calculating alimony payments in the state of Alaska. This means that a judge will consider the lifestyle lived by the alimony-receiving spouse during the duration of the marriage when determining an appropriate alimony payment amount.
Moreover, the judges in Alaska evaluate the custodial status when determining alimony payments. This entails that alimony calculations are affected by whether or not the receiving spouse has custody of the children, and custodial spouses can receive higher alimony payments.
Lastly, the calculation of alimony is usually done on a case-by-case basis by the Alaska family court judge who is responsible for the case. While some states have a fixed alimony calculation formula, in most cases the final amount and duration of alimony granted is at the discretion of the judge.
When Do I Need to Contact a Lawyer?
If you reside in the state of Alaska and have questions regarding spousal support, it may be useful to reach out to a Alaska family law attorney to assist you with the process. Your attorney can provide you with guidance and representation for your case.
