Alimony

Alimony, also called "spousal support," is a legal precedent in divorce proceedings requiring one spouse to provide financial support for a former spouse. Alimony is intended to protect the financial well-being of individuals following divorce, especially in cases where one spouse sacrifices career or education as a result of their participation in a former marriage. In some cases, alimony is awarded on a temporary basis, giving a former spouse time to complete his or her education or engage in career training. In other cases, alimony is awarded to allow a former spouse to meet the financial requirements of his or her life, given financial obligations that the individual developed during the former marriage.

Alimony laws are linked to periods in Western history in which women were not often employed outside the home. Given greater participation of women in the workplace and an increasing likelihood of both spouses maintaining independent careers, some legal experts argue that alimony is an outdated concept. Supporters argue that alimony is still necessary, as the contract of marriage may necessitate one or the other spouse making financial commitments or sacrificing earning potential such that a divorce leaves them financially vulnerable.

History of Alimony

The concept of alimony occurs in many cultures around the world. The use of alimony in the United States is derived from British common law, and from there can be traced back to the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. At the time the code was written, women were considered the property of their male spouses, and the code provides many punishments, usually by drowning, for women who are unfaithful or in some other way violate the contract of marriage. However, the code also provides provisions for the payment of child support and alimony for women left, through no fault of their own, by their husbands.

Alimony laws were intended to prevent the creation of a large population of abandoned women with no means to support themselves after abandonment by their husbands, especially in cases where the marriage resulted in children. In addition, alimony and child support provisions reinforce the contractual nature of marriage and discourage irresponsible entry into and departure from marriage. Alimony laws were integrated into the 529 CE Code of Justinian and from there into the laws of the Roman Empire, as written in the Corpus juris civilis. This became one of the bases for British common law. Under the British ecclesiastical courts, marriage was considered both a spiritual and civil contract. Men were typically required to pay alimony after their initial separation and, given the nature of the separation, might be required to pay permanent alimony, as it was believed that the spiritual bonds of marriage must continue regardless of separation. British common law, along with alimony provisions, was imported into the United States and became part of American common law and the Bill of Rights.

Until the 1970s, alimony in the United States was linked to the determination of fault in divorce. In general, a person seen as having fault in the dissolution of the marriage was not entitled to alimony, but may be required to pay alimony to his or her spouse. The Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act, written in 1970, was the beginning of a movement toward no-fault divorce in the United States, with the result that state governments increasingly separated child support and alimony from the concept of fault. Also in the 1970s, the Supreme Court ruled against gender bias in the determination of alimony, declaring that a spouse of either gender may equally apply for alimony following a divorce. California was the first state to offer no-fault divorce in 1970. The last state to offer no-fault divorce was New York, which did not adopt the process until 2010.

Alimony Today

From the 1970s to the 2000s, courts considering alimony consider factors including income, debts, and financial obligations of both spouses, the length of the marriage, the length of a pre-divorce separation, the age of both spouses at the time of the divorce, and future financial prospects of both parties. Alimony laws differ from state to state, requiring different levels of judicial oversight before alimony is awarded. Some states have drafted specific requirements for alimony decisions, including the duration of alimony payments and the length of marriage necessary before alimony will be considered. More than half of US states continue to take marital fault into consideration when determining alimony.

State courts also have different regulations regarding the amount payable by payers in alimony cases. In some states, a former spouse required to pay alimony may be required to pay a percentage of his or her monthly income, while other states have specific maximum payment limits for alimony payments. Therefore, spouses seeking alimony benefits need to research specific state guidelines to determine eligibility, duration, and other factors affecting potential alimony settlements.

In the United States, there are four primary types of alimony payments, designed to address different types of income discrepancies between divorcing spouses. Each state has different regulations regarding the types of alimony settlement allowed and how a former spouse qualifies for certain types of alimony.

Permanent Alimony

Permanent alimony is an alimony payment that is intended to continue until the death of either the payer or recipient, or until the recipient is remarried. Permanent alimony is the most controversial type of alimony payment, and several states have passed laws to completely eliminate such provisions, including Massachusetts, Florida, Texas, and Maine.

The maximum duration of alimony payments differs from state to state. Texas currently places the most significant restrictions on alimony payments, with a maximum limit of three years from the time of settlement.

Temporary Alimony

Temporary alimony can be traced back to ancient laws. A spouse may be entitled to alimony while legally separated, until there has been a formal judicial decision regarding the conditions of divorce. In some states, temporary alimony may also enable a spouse earning less than his or her partner to have the cost of divorce proceedings covered by the other party.

Rehabilitative Alimony

In cases where one spouse is not financially independent, the former spouse may be ordered to provide financial support for a limited period, giving the dependent spouse an opportunity to work toward becoming self-sufficient. Spouses seeking rehabilitative alimony may claim expenses including the cost of education, job training, and expenses while engaged in career-building activities.

Reimbursement Alimony

Reimbursement alimony is a form of alimony intended to compensate for resources invested in one spouse’s education, business, or other job-training activities by the other spouse during the marriage, such as in a case where one spouse paid or supported the other spouse while the latter was in school. In some cases, courts rule for reimbursement alimony to be paid to a spouse who helped the other spouse through school, requiring the supported spouse to pay back their former partner, once employed, for this support.

Alimony Reform

Efforts to reform alimony law in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have focused on preserving alimony to protect the well-being of spouses following a divorce, while reducing the use of alimony as a financial punishment. Efforts to revise and amend alimony laws have coincided with a shifting public perception of alimony in American popular culture. As women’s participation in the workforce has increased, critics have increasingly portrayed alimony as a form of exploitation, and the concept of marriage as a strategy to obtain alimony income has become a stereotype often depicted in popular films and television.

According to a 2014 report from the American Bar Association’s Section of Family Law, changing trends in alimony are related to changes in the American workforce. The report cites statistics from the Census Bureau indicating in 2010, women in the workforce make up 47 percent of independent members, and 33 percent of women earn more than their spouses, as opposed to 1967 when only 8 percent of women worked outside the home and 61 percent of women earned less than their spouses.

Supporters of alimony have argued that the process remains necessary and can be justly determined in many cases. For instance, while married, one or the other spouse might be seen as having contributed to or facilitated the other spouse’s financial success; a wife or husband might pay a majority of the household expenses, or take primary charge of childcare, giving the other spouse time and freedom to build his or her business. In the wake of the divorce, therefore, some argue that both spouses should share in the financial rewards made possible by their partnership, even if one spouse owns a controlling share of the resulting business.

In addition, courts have considered making alimony available in cases of domestic partnerships and couples who cohabit, given the increasing popularity in American society of cohabiting rather than marrying. The controversy and reform efforts surrounding alimony differ depending on the type of alimony payment, with four primary forms of alimony typically dispensed by the courts.

Bibliography

Alcindor, Yamiche. "Should Alimony Laws Be Changed?" USA Today. Gannett, 18 Jan. 2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

King, L. W. "The Code of Hammurabi." Yale Avalon. Lillian Goldman Law Library, 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Landers, Jeff. "What Divorcing Women Need to Know about Alimony Reform." Forbes. Forbes, 17 May 2013. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Levitz, Jennifer. "The New Art of Alimony." Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones, 31 Oct. 2009. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Morgan, Laura W. "Current Trends in Alimony Law: Where Are We Now?" American Bar Association. ABA, 9 Apr. 2012. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

"Spousal Support (Alimony) Basics." Findlaw. Thomson Reuters, 2015. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Steward, Scott David. "Hammurabi to UMDA—Alimony’s Journey into Spousal Maintenance." Attorney at Law. Attorney at Law Magazine, 2015. Web. 9 Apr. 2015.

Vernier, Chester G., and John B. Hurlbut. "The Historical Background of Alimony Law and Its Present Statutory Structure." Law and Contemporary Problems 6.2/3 (1939): 197–212. Print.