Deciding to divorce your partner is an already stressful situation. Adding how much alimony you will have to pay or that you could receive can add an extra layer of unnecessary stress.

There are ways to calculate alimony, but you must first have certain documents on hand to ensure an accurate calculation. If you want to learn more about calculating alimony and who to reach out to for more help, continue reading below.

How to Calculate Alimony

Before you can start to calculate alimony, you must first understand what alimony is for. The purpose of alimony support is to help you or your spouse to maintain a standard of living they were accustomed to during the marriage.

It is not child support, and it is not meant to punish the other party for bad behavior such as infidelity. There is some information you will first need before you can calculate alimony. For example, you will need your and your spouse’s gross and net yearly income.

Other important information you will need:

  • The amount you or your spouse pays for child support
  • The amount you or your spouse pays or receives for child support
  • Length of your marriage

You can use formulas to calculate how much alimony you can possibly receive. However, you must keep in mind that each state has its own rules for calculating alimony. The only way to know how much money you could receive in alimony, you should reach out to a reputable divorce attorney at thetexasdivorcelawyer.com.

Different Types of Alimony

There are different types of alimony you must familiarize yourself with because they all differ in duration and purpose. For example, with temporary support, a spouse may receive temporary alimony only during a legal separation, annulment, or divorce. This type of alimony is calculated based on less complex and local rules, and it is only in force during the legal separation process; after the final order is set, it ends.

Compensatory Alimony

This type of alimony is less common, but it happens in situations where one party made significant contributions to the other party’s education, vocational skills, training, or earning capacity. The court will consider how much you and your spouse will each earn compared to one another and the amount, type, and length of the contribution made to the other party.

Transitional Alimony

This type of spousal support is short-term and applies when the recipient of the support has the ability to become self-sufficient, but they require some support while they make the adjustments to economic conditions outside of married life. During this transition, the partner may need time to obtain educational training or something else to become self-sufficient.

Long-Term Maintenance

Long-term maintenance, also known as spousal maintenance, is, as it sounds, long-term. The court will need to examine if the recipient has the capacity to maintain the long-term standard of living they had while married on their own. If rehabilitative or transitional support alone is not enough, the court may award spousal support.

Receive the Alimony You Deserve

Trying to calculate alimony on your end may not be easy to do, especially if you aren’t sure about the state laws that determine alimony support. There are several different factors that also impact how much alimony you may receive or give.

To ensure that you receive the alimony you deserve or only pay the required amount of alimony; you should reach out to a divorce attorney for additional help. If you found this article helpful and want to learn more, check out our Education section!