Brea Spousal Support Lawyer

Brea Spousal Support Attorney

Spousal support is a factor in many Brea divorces. The decision as to whether one spouse must provide financial support to the other, and how long those payments will continue, ultimately rests with the judge presiding over the case. A Brea spousal support lawyer works to make sure the spousal support process is fair and conforms with state guidelines. Legal representation influences the outcome of the process in your favor.

A Brea Spousal Support Law Firm That Benefits Your Case Through Strategic Planning

If you are going through a divorce that could potentially involve a spousal support order, you need representation that protects your rights and interests throughout that process. The team of attorneys at Minyard Morris has dedicated their careers to practicing family law and representing clients in and around Brea. We bring over 350 years of collective legal and courtroom experience to the cases we handle.

One of the things that sets our law firm apart is our focus on collective problem-solving, allowing us to meet any complex challenges our clients run into. Multiple times per week, we gather all our award-winning lawyers for strategy sessions. We view this time as vital to the work we do. While peer-reviewed organizations, such as Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America, recognize our firm’s work each year, our greatest pride comes from achieving meaningful results for our clients.

Understanding Spousal Support in Brea

Spousal support can be a contentious part of any divorce, but the courts must consider the merits of awarding support to one spouse. California has a marriage rate of 5.5 for every 1,000 residents per year. Furthermore, about 7% of men and 10% of women are divorced in Orange County.

In Brea, where the median house vales is $1,099,976, courts assess each spouse’s financial resources, earning capacity, and contributions to the marriage when deciding whether to order support and for how long. These assessments can be particularly complex in high-net-worth divorces.

Residents in neighborhoods like Olinda Ranch, Artisan Walk, and Country Hills may need to address spousal support disputes through one of the family courthouses serving Brea and the surrounding communities.

What the Courts Consider When Setting Spousal Support

Judges evaluate many factors under Family Code § 4320 when deciding whether to set spousal support. These factors include:

The length of the marriage
Each spouse’s income and earning capacity
The standard of living during the marriage
Whether one spouse sacrificed career opportunities to support the other’s professional growth

Although the state lays out the factors that can be considered, judges have wide discretion in the final decision.

Why You Should Hire a Spousal Support Lawyer

Whether you are seeking or contesting spousal support, your top priority should be to hire a spousal support lawyer to represent you through the process. With representation from a Brea spousal support attorney, you benefit from their years of handling complex spousal support cases. California’s alimony laws require anyone seeking or contesting spousal support to back up their arguments with compelling evidence.

A family law attorney gathers the evidence you need and explains how your case could impact your divorce. There may be opportunities for making modest concessions in one area of your life in return for achieving your goals regarding spousal support. Asserting your rights and interests often requires the insights, support, and guidance of an attorney. They understand the local family court system and work to further your goals in court.

FAQs

Do I Have to Support My Wife After a Divorce?

You do not automatically have to support your wife during your divorce or after. When one party requests spousal support, the courts consider many factors. Any decision made by a judge must be based on evidence. There are no guarantees that spousal support will be included in the final court order. Having legal representation is critical for safeguarding your rights and succeeding in your efforts to request or contest support.

What Terminates Spousal Support in CA?

The court order may include conditions for ending the order, which would likely include remarriage or cohabitation with a romantic partner. Other orders may include a specific date when the payments end. Either party has the option of going back to court to ask for a modification, but doing so requires proof of a substantial change in living or financial circumstances.

What Is Lump-Sum Alimony?

Lump-sum alimony refers to a one-time payment to the other spouse instead of ongoing spousal support. There may be times when both parties prefer a one-time payment instead of regular payments over months or years. Given the finality of these types of agreements, it is crucial to have your family law attorney carefully review yours.

Can I Modify Spousal Support?

Yes. California law allows many family court orders to be modified. To do so, the person seeking the modification must demonstrate that there has been a substantial change in circumstances. Common grounds for requesting a modification to a support payment include:

The loss of a job
Retirement
Increased income
A long-term illness

The court then reviews the evidence and legal arguments before deciding whether to modify the court order.

Minyard Morris: Your Strategic Brea Spousal Support Law Firm

If you are going through a divorce that could lead to paying spousal support, the time to act is now. The outcome of a spousal support case in Brea can have lasting consequences for both parties. Each party stands to either lose or gain significant amounts of money, and the result of the case will be enforceable through a court order. Therefore, it is vital to have strong representation who is focused on preserving your rights and future.

At Minyard Morris, we bring more than 350 years of combined family law experience to complex spousal support matters. Our divorce attorneys are trusted throughout Orange County courts for their preparation, strategy, and commitment to delivering results. Contact our office today to schedule your consultation with a highly respected and skilled legal team.

Brea Spousal Support Lawyer FAQ

What Issues Does a Family Law Court Look to When Making a Spousal Support Order?

If there is a demonstrated need by one spouse, and a demonstrated ability to pay relative to the other spouse, a divorce court will likely make an order for spousal support payable to the spouse in need. The determination of the amount, duration, and other terms of the spousal support order can be very complex.

Spousal Support

What Other Gray Areas Exist Relative to the Definition of Income?

Free rent and meal allowances may be income. Deferred salary is income, as are recurring payments from family members (gifts) that are not loans or early inheritance. Unallocated, lump-sum, personal injury recovery, or annuity, payments are generally not characterized as income. Student loans and unrealized gain in shares of stock are not income. The proceeds received from the sale of stock that were reinvested are not income available for support.

When Does a Family Law Court Order One Party to Pay Spousal Support to the Other?

A family law court may order one party to pay spousal support to the other, if that party has the need and the payor has the ability to pay. Spousal support payable before the judgment is entered is called temporary support, and spousal support paid after the judgment is called permanent spousal support.

What is Temporary Spousal Support?

Spousal support paid prior to the entry of the Judgment is characterized as temporary spousal support or pendent lite spousal support. Temporary spousal support may be ordered at a Request For Order (RFO) and is designed to maintain the status quo of the parties, where possible. The amount of temporary spousal support is often determined with the utilization of a formula accessed through the use of a computer software program (DissoMaster or X-Spouse).

Temporary spousal support may be ordered retroactively to the filing date of the Request for Order (RFO) seeking spousal support. Generally, the payor-spouse is credited with payments made to the payee-spouse or paid for that spouse’s benefit. However, a spousal support order at the trial may not be made retroactive to the date of the Petition unless a spouse had previously requested temporary spousal support (Mendoza v. Cuellar). A family law court may order temporary spousal support pending the determination of issues involved in an Out-of-State divorce (Gromeeko v. Gromeeko).

Temporary Spousal Support

Tax Issues

What is Permanent Spousal Support?

At the divorce trial, permanent spousal support may be ordered. The term “permanent” is misleading because permanent spousal support may be ordered for a limited period of time. The term permanent is intended to distinguish this spousal support from temporary spousal support. This spousal support is also referred to as post-judgment or long-term spousal support.

Potential Sequence of Steps and Procedural Events in a Divorce

Spousal Support Retroactivity

What Circumstances Support a Modification of a Spousal Support Order?

A court is to look to all circumstances when determining whether to extend spousal support (IRMO Wilson).There are many circumstances that may justify a modification of a permanent spousal support including the following:

Decrease in income of the payor-spouse;
Increase in income of the payee-spouse;
End of child support;
Discharge by payee-spouse of all community debts assigned to payee (IRMO Clements);
Unrealized expectations that payee-spouse would be self-supporting (IRMO Beaust);
Payee’s support of adult children (IRMO Serna);
Cohabitation and romantic relationship;
Increase in child support (IRMO McCann);
Payor-spouse’s 65th birthday and retirement (IRMO Reynolds).

What Are Examples of Events That May Not Constitute a Change of Circumstances?

The following may not constitute a change of circumstances:

Payee-spouse paying expenses of daughter and two grandchildren (IRMO Serna);
Ability to access retirement funds without penalty (IRMO Dietz);
Generally, mere passage of time;
Increased income by payor-spouse without a showing by the payee-spouse that the original award failed to meet the marital standard of living;
Payee-spouse’s pursuit of an advanced degree as opposed to obtaining a job; and
Payee-spouse’s continued disability in a short-term marriage.

What are the Family Law Code § 4320 Factors That Family Law Courts Evaluate When Setting Permanent Spousal Support?

The award of permanent spousal support is based on the factors set forth in Family Code § 4320 as opposed to being based on the “status quo” as is the standard for temporary support matters. The divorce court cannot set permanent spousal support exclusively using the computer software formula used in setting temporary spousal support. Family Code § 4320 sets forth specific factors that the divorce court must consider:

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 expenses required for the supported party to acquire 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.

Permanent Support

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, including a plea of nolo contendere, of any history of domestic violence, as defined in Section 6211, between the parties or perpetrated by either party against either party’s child, 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 as described in Section 4336, a “reasonable period of time” for purposes of this section generally shall be one-half the length of the marriage. However, nothing in this section is intended to limit the court’s discretion to order support for a greater or lesser length of time, based on any of the other factors listed in this section, Section 4336, and the circumstances of the parties.

m. The criminal conviction of an abusive spouse shall be considered in making a reduction or elimination of a spousal support award in accordance with Section 4324.5 or 4325.

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

F.C. § 4320 Factors

Is the Marital Standard of Living One of the Important Family Code § 4320 Factors?

The marital standard of living is relevant to the determination of spousal support. However, it is just one of the Family Code Section 4320 factors (IRMO Smith / IRMO Zywiciel). It is neither a ceiling nor a floor for the amount of spousal support. The marital standard of living may be looked at by the divorce court as a benchmark. The divorce court may define the marital standard of living specifically with a dollar level or generally in terms like “middle class standard of living” (IRMO Kerr).

Is the Payor’s Marital Standard of Living as Important as the Payee’s Marital Standard of Living?

The divorce court must consider the marital standard of living of both parties, not just that of the payee spouse (IRMO Andreen).

Testimonials

HEAR FROM MINYARD MORRIS CLIENTS

Google Reviews

Contact Us

SCHEDULE A MINYARD MORRIS CONSULTATION

Contact Minyard Morris now to schedule a consultation with our attorneys and legal professionals.