Sandy Springs Alimony Attorneys
If you’re going through a divorce, chances are you are already emotionally overwhelmed and in desperate need of some legal assistance from a credible alimony attorney. Fortunately for you, our law firm offers the exact quality service that you need.
Everyone knows that ending a marriage is hard—emotionally, mentally, and even financially. To make things worse, you will soon need to have some legal discussions with your future former partner, which won’t make anything easier in any way.
Typically, you have to go over the details of child custody, property division, and child support. Moreover, discussions about spousal support through alimony during, and sometimes even after, the divorce process will also take place. In this negotiation process, you will need the service of our expert alimony attorneys.
When going through alimony arrangements, you need dedicated Sandy Springs alimony attorneys to guide you through a smooth legal process that will spare you from unnecessary mental and emotional stress. In our law firm, we will diligently strategize how to present the evidence that will support your request for alimony during the initial negotiations.
Additionally, our alimony attorneys will also help you in requesting for a spousal support modification if circumstantial changes transpired in your or your spouse’s life. These changes in circumstances may include long-term unemployment, retirement, or having a higher paying job.
For a comprehensive consultation, contact Vayman & Teitelbaum, P.C. on (678) 504-8411 and talk to our best alimony attorneys now.
Alimony in Georgia
In Sandy Springs, GA, spousal support equals what is commonly known as alimony. It is an item completely separate from child support.
As stated in the law of Georgia, a married couple is financially responsible for each other. This means that a husband has to financially support his wife, and a wife has to financially support her husband as well. This particular responsibility will last until the couple is granted the final decree in divorce. It won’t simply vanish because married people decided to separate.
It is essential to know that being a resident of Sandy Springs, your alimony isn’t a guaranteed part of your divorce. Adultery and abandonment are circumstantial examples of what can nullify a spouse’s rights to request spousal support.
Also, the state doesn’t have any specific set of guidelines on the calculations of spousal support, unlike in awarding child support. The amount of your expected spousal support will depend on the court’s discretion. This magnifies your need for the expert legal representation of an alimony attorney even more.
Types of Alimony
Temporary Spousal Support
Temporary spousal support is typically awarded while a divorce is being processed. This support is especially important if a spouse will be living alone without any source of income. Payments may be ordered to be done weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.
Being awarded temporary spousal support doesn’t guarantee the acquisition of alimony after the divorce. The judge will still decide whether or not permanent alimony will be necessary. If it is, the judge will create a new order that will take effect after the finalization of the divorce.
Permanent Spousal Support
Permanent spousal support is rarely awarded for an unlimited period. Almost certainly, the support will only last a limited duration of time. The purpose is for the money to be provided long enough to allow the spouse to be self-sufficient. Additionally, if the support is awarded for an extended period, the amount may be reduced through a modification request.
After the divorce, temporary spousal supports are commonly awarded to spouses who are yet to land jobs and support themselves. The awarded amount is mainly for job training and education to help them get employed.
Permanent or long-term spousal supports are primarily awarded to spouses who are deemed incapable of getting jobs to sustain themselves due to their advanced age or disabilities.
Eligibility Factors for Alimony
Requesting for alimony can be done by either spouse. However, before alimony can be awarded to someone, the deciding judge must see that one spouse needs financial support, and the other can provide it. If both of these are established, the court will then evaluate the following eligibility factors to create the final alimony award:
- The marital standard of living
- Duration of the marriage
- Each of the spouse’s age, physical condition, and emotional health
- The supported spouse’s earning potential
- The paying spouse’s earning capacity, debts, and financial status
- Each of the spouse’s financial conditions (e.g., separate property, separate debts)
- The time needed by the supported spouse to have sufficient training and education to get a job
- Each of the spouse’s contributions to the marriage (e.g., childcare, education, and other spouse’s career-building)
- Other factors the court may consider equitable
Whether you are the possible paying or supported spouse, our alimony attorneys are ready to legally serve you to make sure you can get the best out of the alimony negotiation.
Paying Alimony
Since there are no specific guidelines set to calculate the spousal support in Sandy Springs, GA, the calculation process can be considered subjective and arbitrary. To put it simply, alimony is generally awarded based on the need of one spouse and the ability of the other to pay.
When it comes to the duration of the payment, it varies. It may be ordered to be paid time-based, like half of the length of the marriage. In other cases, it may be paid based on the time needed by the supported spouse to generate an income.
Alimony is mostly paid periodically and continuously. This means you may pay or receive alimony every month or every week up until the court decides that the payments should be stopped. However, if the paying spouse has the capability, the alimony can be ordered to be paid one-time with the lump-sum payment. Yet this happens rarely. This is due to the fact the most spouses don’t have the large money to give to their former partners after a divorce.
If you are the paying spouse, our experienced alimony attorneys will help you understand certain orders like the income deduction order. This is issued by the court for your employer to deduct the alimony from your wages and pay it directly to the family support registry.
Also, if you believe that your former spouse’s financial status has significantly improved, the alimony attorneys of our law firm will guide you through the divorce modification process, which can end your responsibility to pay alimony. Additionally, we will also help in modifying the alimony payments if you have any chronic financial hardship.
On the other hand, if you are the supported spouse, you may be having problems with delayed support payments. Although this isn’t an uncommon issue, the deliberate refusal of your former spouse to pay alimony can result in them being charged with contempt, issued with fines, penalties, liens on their property, and even being sent to jail.
If this is true in your case, our highly qualified alimony attorneys will build a strong case for you that is to be presented before the court.
Modifications and Terminations of Alimony
Support modifications are commonly asked about. You may even have the same intention in mind, especially if you are the paying spouse.
Unless you and your former spouse have agreed—in writing—that no one will ask for any future alimony modification, either the two of you can request a review of the support agreement in the court. The requesting spouse will then need to demonstrate a change in circumstances in either of the spouse’s life before the court will review the alimony for possible modifications.
For you to have the best shot at acquiring your desired modification, our law firm’s alimony attorneys will expertly represent you before the court.
When it comes to termination, an alimony award will automatically be terminated when the supported spouse remarries, or either of the spouses dies. The court will also sometimes terminate or modify an alimony award when the supported spouse is already living together with someone they are romantically involved with. This circumstance is known as a meretricious relationship. Moreover, temporary spousal support will end once the judge already finalized the support.
If you want to have any modification or would like to terminate an alimony award, whether you are the paying or the supported spouse, our law firm is here to help. Just contact our best alimony attorneys (678) 504-8411 and be legally guided accordingly.
Tax Law Changes and Alimony
Alimony payments are all previously taxable to the supported spouse and tax-deductible for the paying spouse. However, the changes in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—effective on January 1, 2019—have eliminated the income reporting requirements and the tax-deduction benefit of alimony.
Consequently, former couples can adjust to the tax law changes by altering their agreed alimony arrangement to address the loss of tax deduction. But before going through this process, it is extremely important to consult an expert alimony attorney to guide through changing the terms of the alimony award.
If you find yourself having concern about this, just talk to the alimony attorneys of Vayman & Teitelbaum, P.C., and we will serve you in the most efficient way possible.
Arrangements and Negotiations
When negotiating for alimony, couples can choose to create either a short-term or a permanent alimony plan. This plan should work according to both spouses’ preferences. Alimony arrangements may include multiple payments from the paying spouse or making the payment one-time (lump-sum), periodic, or the combination of both methods.
Alimony negotiations are always tricky. This is a reason enough to make you hire an experienced alimony attorney who’s an expert in handling and, possibly, dominating negotiations.
Aside from addressing your most apparent legal concerns, like the amount you should ask for (if you’re the supported spouse) or the amount you should only agree to pay (if you’re the paying spouse), your hired alimony attorney could also make sure that the agreed alimony will not be financially disadvantageous for you in the long run.
Asking for legal assistance from a committed and knowledgeable alimony attorney is always highly suggested prior to alimony negotiations. If you are about to negotiate for alimony, feel free to consult the alimony attorneys of Vayman & Teitelbaum, P.C..
Best Legal Representation
Our team of Sandy Springs alimony attorneys here in Vayman & Teitelbaum, P.C. are a bunch of experienced attorneys who know the law like the back of their hands. We have dedicated attorneys who are genuinely interested in understanding and winning your case.
We will give you sound and expert counsel on what’s the best legal course of action to take specific to your present legal concern. Negotiations will be handled with your best interests in mind. It will be our priority to protect your rights in adherence to the Georgia family law.
Once you work with us, we will proactively approach your case to resolve it as efficiently as possible. We will save you from all unnecessary stress and expenses and give you the most beneficial alimony agreement you can get.
Send a Consultation Now
If you have any concerns about the legal matters mentioned above, don’t hesitate to talk to our best alimony attorneys in Sandy Springs.
Call Vayman & Teitelbaum, P.C. on (678) 504-8411 and get your legal concerns sorted out.