Tulsa Divorce Attorneys - Misconceptions About Alimony

For whatever reason there tends to be a lot of misunderstandings about alimony. Perhaps this is because the alimony laws of most jurisdictions have changed dramatically over the course of the past fifty years.

Fifty years ago, alimony could only be requested by the wife. During that time, the typical married home consisted of a husband who worked solely outside of the home and thus was the only income earner in the marriage. During that time, the wife typcially worked solely inside of the home and thus had a very little if any income earning capacity outside of the home. As a result of this soical paradigm, the divorce laws of the day assumed that the husband could always find work outside of the home and thus support himself financially and that the wife could never find work outside of the home and thus was unable to support herself financially.

Fast forward to the present time and our society has made huge strides with regard to doing away with the traditional paradigm. Under modern divorce laws both the husband and the wife are legally able to request alimony.

With regard to requesting alimony, we have written this article to help clear up some misconceptions about the matter. Below is a list of three notes about modern alimony law. Our hope is that you will read the three notes and familiar yourself with them in order to develop a working understanding of modern alimony law.

Note Number One: Both Men And Women Are Eligible For Alimony. Just like we stated above, under modern divorce laws no one is disqualified from requesting alimony based on their gender alone.

Note Number Two: Consider Future Earning Potential. Proving or disproving a case for alimony has a lot to do with future earning capacity. In the event that your ex has requested that they be awarded alimony just ask yourself the following the questions: what job skills does my ex possess? how much education does my ex have? how much money could my ex earn if they were willing to get a job?

Note Number Three: The Length Of An Alimony Award. keep in mind there are only a handful of jurisdictions that authorize the judge to award 'alimony for life'. The vast majority of jurisdictions limit the alimony award to a length of time that is just long enough so that your ex can make the adjustment from being a stay at home spouse to now having to be a working, productive member of society.

If you would like to do additional research about alimony, we recommend that you conduct independent research using online resources.