Spousal Support - Moshtael Family Law

Moshtael Family Law

SPOUSAL SUPPORT

SEEK TEMPORARY SPOUSAL SUPPORT OR LONG-TERM SUPPORT AFTER YOUR DIVORCE

Temporary spousal support could be better understood as “band-aid orders.” If a person cuts themselves and needs stitches, before going to the hospital, they can clean up the wound, wrap it up, and eventually go to a hospital to seek proper care.

Temporary spousal support is intended to financially help one spouse until the court decides upon a proper solution. The court generally determines temporary spousal support with the same computer program used to calculate guideline child support.

Spousal Support

HOW IS SPOUSAL SUPPORT CALCULATED IN ORANGE COUNTY, CA? In California, there is no such thing as guideline spousal support, but relevant case law states that the judge has a lot of discretion in deciding how to award support. In general: the point of temporary spousal support is to help maintain the status quo; that is, to keep everything under control until we discovery is complete and the case settled, or the case goes to trial.

Spousal Support

Judges also look at temporary spousal support as intended to temporarily meet the needs of the supported party based on the marital standard of living as generated by a computer program.

The same program that generates the guideline statewide number for monthly child support also recommends a monthly amount for temporary spousal support. Generally, most judges will only use the number recommended by the computer program.

Spousal Support

LONG-TERM SPOUSAL SUPPORT Long-term spousal support is alimony that is either agreed to in a settlement agreement or ordered by a judge at trial. Temporarily spousal support is ordered sometime between the beginning of the case and before it ends. Anything that is from the date of settlement or doesn’t settle and goes to trial is long-term spousal support.

In California, long-term spousal support is based on Family Code Section 4320. There is no set formula for long term support. It is determined by various factors listed in Family Code Section 4320.

The law says that the judge must consider each of these factors, but it is up to the judge to decide how much weight to give each one.

Spousal Support

FAMILY SUPPORT IN CALIFORNIA Family support is different than child support or spousal support. Family support is a way to get more support from the supported party. It bumps up the number. If you run the computer program, in one scenario you might have one number for child support and a separate number for alimony, and in another scenario, you run different calculations and get the family support amount. That family support number will generally be higher than the child support and spousal support numbers combined.

Spousal Support

One may assume that if they want more money, it would make sense to agree to family support. The problem with family support, however, is that it is not allocated as to what part is child support and what part is spousal support. The problem with family support is that it is not deductible on tax returns. Spousal support is deductible, so the payor deducts it on their tax return.

The spouse paying family support is going to want to claim the tax benefits and the person who receives support will likely say, “Wait a second, I didn’t know that I was supposed to pay taxes on some part of the family support and I never file a tax return because I have no income. I was getting family support.

Spousal Support

Moshtael Family Law

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