While facing a divorce, you may have questions regarding either partner or spousal support payments. It is common to wonder how the courts calculate alimony payments and what the difference is between a temporary and permanent order.
Keep reading for more information on how the California Courts deal with spousal or partner support.
A court case must be ongoing for temporary support
According to the California Courts website, in order for a partner or spousal support to take effect, there needs to be a court case. This can either be a domestic violence restraining order or divorce, legal separation or annulment. You can ask for this support to take effect while your case is ongoing. This is a temporary order. Once your case becomes final, the amount of support ordered is a permanent order. For a temporary order, a formula is generally used to calculate the initial amount.
The final support amount is not based on a formula
When the judge makes his or her decision for the permanent support order, a formula is not used. The judge will review several factors to come up with the support amount, including the following.
- How long the domestic partnership or marriage lasted
- The needs of each person based on their standard of living during the marriage or domestic partnership
- What each person is able to pay to uphold their standard of living
- Debts and property
- The age and health of both parties
- Whether there was domestic violence involved
- Whether having a job would make it difficult to care for the children
While this list is not exhaustive, it includes the bulk of what a judge considers while calculating the final amount.
