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How standard of living affects an alimony determination

On Behalf of | Jul 20, 2021 | Alimony

Divorce can have tremendous financial ramifications. In fact, it can dictate your financial position for years or even decades to come. That’s why it’s imperative that you enter the divorce process with a strong strategy that seeks to protect your financial interests. This includes being prepared to address alimony.

There are a lot of considerations that go into an alimony determination, and you should be prepared to address each of them. This week, though, let’s briefly look at one of the most important: the marital standard of living.

Determining the marital standard of living

Figuring out what constitutes the marital standard of living can be tough because it seems like a nebulous phrase. But the marital standard of living really takes into account nearly every aspect of your life together as a married couple. It will likely include the home that you resided in, how often and where you dined out, how frequently you engaged in shopping and what you bought, the types of vacations that you went on, and even the kinds of vehicles that you and your spouse drove. It’s important to note, though, that a court probably isn’t going to consider an artificial lifestyle that is funded by debt when looking at the standard of living for alimony calculation purposes.

How the marital standard of living is used

In theory, the court tries to position both parties to a divorce in such a way that they both enjoy the standard of living that they had during the course of their marriage. In practice, though, this isn’t always possible. However, the court will still use the marital standard of living to try to find a way to equalize the parties as much as possible post-divorce. Of course, many other factors will be taken into account when a calculation of spousal support is made, so be sure to not to overlook those if you hope to reach a fair outcome.

Let a legal team help you with your alimony-related issues

There’s a lot at stake when spousal support is on the table. That’s why you need to take a holistic and aggressive approach to your case. If you’d like to learn more about how to do that and secure assistance in addressing these matters, then now may be the time to speak with an experienced Bingham Farms attorney.

 

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