SPOUSAL SUPPORT

At the initial stage of the divorce, legal separation or nullity of marriage action, the lower earning spouse can file a motion with the court to ask that the other spouse pay him or her spousal support. The purpose of temporary support is to maintain the living standard of the parties pending a final determination of the action. Temporary support establishes a precedent that most courts consider when making a permanent support order. Because, as a practical matter, most courts rely heavily on the amount of support that was paid or ordered during the temporary support stage, it is crucial that a thorough presentation of evidence be made at the hearing for temporary support. Parties may have to live with the results of a temporary order long after the permanent order has been made.

In a final judgment of dissolution of marriage or legal separation of the parties, the court may order a party to pay for the support of the other party an amount, for a period of time, that the court determines is just and reasonable, based on the standard of living established during the marriage. When making an order for spousal support, the court may decide to advise the recipient of support that he or she should make reasonable efforts to become self-supporting within a reasonable period of time, which is normally one-half of the length of the parties' marriage.

In ordering spousal support, the court must consider all of the following circumstances:

(a) The extent to which the earning capacity of each party is sufficient to maintain the standard of living established during the marriage, taking into account all of the following:


(1) The marketable skills of the supported party; the job market for those skills; the time and expense required for the supported party to acquire the appropriate education or training to develop those skills; and the possible need for retraining or education to acquire other, more marketable skills or employment;

(2) The extent to which the supported party's present or future earning capacity is impaired by periods of unemployment that were incurred during the marriage to permit the supported party to devote time to domestic duties;


(b) The extent to which the supported party contributed to the attainment of an education, training, a career position or a license by the supporting party;

(c) The ability of the supporting party to pay spousal support, taking into account the supporting party's earning capacity, earned and unearned income, assets and standard of living;

(d) The needs of each party based on the standard of living established during the marriage;

(e) The obligations and assets, including the separate property, of each party;

(f) The duration of the marriage;

(g) The ability of the supported party to engage in gainful employment without unduly interfering with the interests of dependent children in the custody of the party;

(h) The age and health of the parties;

(i) Documented evidence of any history of domestic violence, as defined in Section 6211, between the parties, including but not limited to, consideration of emotional distress resulting from domestic violence perpetrated against the supported party by the supporting party and consideration of any history of violence against the supporting party by the supported party;

(j) The immediate and specific tax consequences to each party;

(k) The balance of the hardships to each party;

(l) The goal that the supported party shall be self-supporting within a reasonable period of time. Except in the case of a marriage of long duration (a marriage of ten (10) years or longer), a "reasonable period of time" generally shall be one-half the length of the marriage. However, nothing limits the court's discretion to order support for a greater or lesser length of time, based on any of the other factors listed above and the circumstances of the parties;

(m) The criminal conviction of an abusive spouse must be considered in making a reduction or elimination of a spousal support award;

(n) Any other factors the court determines are just and equitable.

The courts have broad discretion to modify or revoke a spousal-support order. However, the moving party must show that a change of circumstances has occurred since the spousal-support order was made in order for a trial court to modify or terminate the order, i.e., the support recipient's income has increased or the payer spouse's income has decreased.

For additional assistance, please contact the Group Law Service at 661-325-3425.

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CHAIN, YOUNGER, COHN & STILES
1430 Truxtun Avenue
Bakersfield, CA 93301-5220
Tel: 661-323-4000