Carlsbad Spousal Support Lawyer

Spousal support is governed by California Family Code which includes all of the factors that can be considered in a court ordering this type of support. This type of support may be sought on a temporary or long-term basis. Temporary support may be awarded while your divorce is pending. More permanent orders may be issued that become effective when your divorce is concluded which will provide financial payments usually for a set amount of time. 

Spouses may agree in writing between themselves that one will support the other for a certain monetary amount and for a certain time. Absent this, you must request spousal support if you wish to receive it as part of your divorce petition. You may still negotiate or mediate this issue even after filing. However, when you cannot agree on the terms, the judge will decide the issue based on the specific facts and circumstances of your situation. 

Spousal support generally applies to cases where one spouse is financially disadvantaged and unable to maintain the lifestyle enjoyed during the marriage. An example of this would be when a spouse stayed home to care for the household and children, forgoing employment or the pursuit of a career. Generally, where a spouse seeks this type of support, the court will warn the proposed recipient to take good-faith steps to become self-supporting.  

To encourage recipients to become financially independent, courts may impose various conditions in their spousal support orders. These can include required vocational evaluations and training, conditions that would terminate support, such as graduation from higher education or a vocational training program, decreases in payment amounts at scheduled intervals to further encourage recipients to become self-sufficient, and termination dates for when the support will end.