“Alimony” or spousal support is offered to any one of the spouses either by an agreement between the two or by a court when a married couple gets a divorce.
Alimony is the allowance given to the non – wage earning spouse or the lower wage earning spouse. While offering alimony, the court keep certain things in mind.
The physical condition, status, age, emotional state, financial status of the former spouses
The amount of time the recipient would require to become self sufficient
The standard of living that the couple used to maintain while married
The years when they were married
The capacity of the recipient to support himself or herself after paying the alimony
Like it is hard for a court to judge the amount to be paid for alimony, it is even harder to judge whether the spouse who is supposed to pay the alimony will pay the agreed sum or not. When the payer fails to make the payment of alimony, the person who is entitled to get it, can file a Contempt of court proceedings against the defaulter. Most of the times, the alimony is paid till the time the spouse becomes self – supportive. If no specific date is mentioned in the order, then the payment of alimony should continue till further orders. If the recipient remarries, in most of the cases the alimony stops. If the payer dies and till then the recipient has not become self sufficient, then the court might order the payment of alimony from the deceased payer’s estate or his life insurance proceeds.
