When Will a Court Award Alimony or Spousal Support?

Alimony in Delaware is a sharing of income by the party with the greater resources, giving it to the party with less resources. The party with less resources is known as the dependent spouse.It’s a pretty easy concept to grasp. Does the dependent spouse have expenses that exceed their income? Are the expenses reasonable? Is their income appropriate? You can’t have someone who decides that they’re going to run up all sorts of bills and then say, “I can’t possibly make those expenses so I need alimony.”

At the same time, you can’t have an individual who says they’re dependent because they have all of these normal expenses but they’re no longer working as an executive. Instead, they’ve got a job working in a fast food place. Their income has to be appropriate to their age, experience, education, and prior working history.Are they a dependent spouse?  If they’re a dependent spouse, can the other party have sufficient income to then be able to pay some of it over to meet the deficiency that a dependent spouse faces when they compare their expenses to their income?

The law firm of Mattleman, Weinroth & Miller, P.C., is composed of experienced divorce attorneys in the state of Delaware. Please contact the office for a free initial consultation and get any questions answered.