Spousal Support

The Experience You Need to Negotiate Fair Spousal Support

The divorce attorneys at Warren Major LLP can help you obtain the right amount of spousal support to take care of your needs today, as well as into the future. If you choose divorce mediation, our attorneys can help you and your ex-spouse or ex-partner agree on the amount of monthly support to be paid and the length of time it will be provided. Mediation will help you stay in control of the amount of support you will pay or receive, rather than to leaving it up to a family court judge. After an agreement is reached, you and your ex will sign a document stating the amount and conditions of spousal support, which a judge will then sign as a court order.

Contested spousal support

If your spousal support is contested, the divorce attorneys at Warren Major LLP will advocate strongly and skillfully on your behalf before a family court judge.

• Is your divorce being delayed because you and your ex can’t decide the proper level of spousal support?
• Has a sudden, substantial change in circumstance caused you to petition the court for a modification of support?
• Will a court-ordered enforcement be needed to compel the paying party to live up to his or her financial obligations?

If you are the payor and want a realistic idea of what you can expect to pay for support, please contact us for a consultation.

Here are some terms you need to know:

The amount and duration of spousal or domestic partner support depends on a variety of circumstances. A family court judge will not use a defined formula. Instead, the judge will consider the factors listed in California Family Code section 4320 to make a decision. Including the following:

• The length of the marriage or domestic partnership;
• What each person needs based on the standard of living they had during the marriage or domestic partnership;
• What each person pays or can pay (including earnings and earning capacity) to keep the standard of living they had during the marriage or domestic partnership;
• Whether having a job would make it too hard to take care of children;
• The age and health of both people;
• Debts and property;
• Whether 1 spouse or domestic partner helped the other get an education, training, career, or professional license;
• Whether there was domestic violence in the marriage or domestic partnership;
• Whether one spouse’s, or domestic partner’s, career was affected by unemployment or by taking care of the children or home
• The tax impact of spousal support.

Please contact us to discuss your spousal support needs.