The Two Things That Going To Be Looked at for Alimony: The Party’s Ability To Pay And The Need Of Support By A Recipient.
Video Transcribed: What is alimony? My name is Ryan Cannonie, I am the Tahlequah criminal defense attorney for Wirth Law Office in Cherokee County. I want to talk about in a family law context today is Oklahoma alimony and how alimony impacts your case.
And is it something you need to consider? Is it something even done anymore? Is it legal in Oklahoma? I’ve actually heard some of that come up in the past few weeks.
So with alimony, yes, it is legal in Oklahoma. Oklahoma’s one of several states that recognize alimony. Alimony, the point of it is to cushion the fall of one party in a divorce, from the lifestyle they had before to what they’re going into.
And so, read between the lines, the real point of this is so that we’re not ending up with people on public assistance after divorces or homeless after a divorce and to equalize where the parties end up afterwards.
Now, the two things that are looked at for alimony are going to be looked at, the party’s ability to pay and the need of support by a recipient.
Those are the two things that are going to be looked at. So when you’re considering a divorce and you’re thinking about alimony, there’s a lot of calculations to go in there.
Now, we don’t see alimony as much anymore, based on the fact that usually both spouses are working.
People are getting married later so that they usually have some type of career and training before the marriage. Even if they reduce their hours, they can go back in. But it’s still a pretty important part of the family law context.
Alimony still comes up all the time. We still have lots of families where they’re able to have a single income owner household, or we have a situation where after children were born, one spouse decided that they would stay home with the kids, at least until they could get into school age, and during that time period, something happens and they ended up getting a divorce.
So alimony does come up. It is something that’s requested. When you’re going into a divorce, it’s important to have an attorney that can look through the basis for alimony and fight to either get it for you or to keep you from having to pay it.
So if you have that situation going on, if you find yourself into a divorce where alimony is coming up, contact a Tahlequah family attorney, come in for a consultation. We can look over what’s going on in your case and give you our beliefs as to what should happen.
