Legal Question in Family Law in California

My husband and I both work. We have two kids. I make double what he does. We have a signifigant amount of debt and pretty much live paycheck to paycheck. We have been married 8 years. If we divorce is it likely that he would be awarded spousal support?


Asked on 3/16/11, 8:30 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Derrick Taberski Law Office of Derrick J. Taberski

Strictly on the incomes he would probably be awarded spousal support, but that may be counterbalanced by a number of factors. Depending on your custody/visitation arrangement with the children, he may owe you money back for child support. The allocation of assets and debts, too, may come into play. He may be underemployed and not working up to his full ability. It's always hard to tell. You have a marriage less than 10 years, so the rule of thumb is support would be due half the duration of marriage, or 4 years. Parties do not always have to litigate the issue of support, especially when it is a short term marriage. You and he might choose to mutually waive spousal support or you might agree to a different allocation of assets and debts to "buy out" any support he may be due. You might take a look at family code section 4320 for other factors the court might consider. These are the factors the court uses for long term support.

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Answered on 3/17/11, 10:48 am


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