If you need guidance as to either your right to receive or responsibility to pay alimony in an Indiana divorce case, contact Indianapolis family law attorney Tony Zirkle for accurate advice and effective representation.
At the four Indiana locations of the Law Offices of Tony Zirkle, we make a careful assessment of your situation and advise you about alimony on the basis of the facts relating to each spouse's income and capacity for self-sufficiency. Under Indiana law, a divorcing spouse's right to maintenance is determined according to one spouse's needs and the other spouse's ability to pay. In most cases, alimony payments will continue for no more than three years, which is regarded as the maximum period necessary for a spouse who has been out of the workforce for a long time.
In a long-term marriage, where the spouse who needs maintenance payments was a stay-at-home mother for many years and is now too old to compete effectively in the economy, alimony obligations might last for more than three years and can even be awarded on a permanent basis, subject to periodic review by the family court.
Education, disability, age, and work experience are all important factors that must be considered in determining whether and how long alimony payments must be paid. In cases where the circumstances plainly indicate the likelihood that the court will order alimony for a period beyond three years, it is usually advisable to negotiate spousal maintenance obligations together with division of the marital assets. In this way, such considerations as capital gains, marginal tax rates, and other factors can be reflected in the negotiated settlement in order to maximize the overall value of the marital estate for each spouse's purposes.
Alimony payments cease upon the remarriage of the spouse receiving maintenance, but can always be modified in the meantime upon a showing of significantly changed circumstances. These might include a substantial increase or decrease in income, health problems, or other conditions indicating changes either in the receiving spouse's needs or the paying spouse's capacity to continue performing at the original level of support.
Whether negotiated or ordered by the court, alimony obligations can be enforced through the family court's contempt power. For knowledgeable and reliable client service in a divorce case that is likely to present issues concerning spousal maintenance, contact the Law Offices of Tony Zirkle in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, South Bend, or Crown Point.
