While divorce is an issue no one wishes to have to deal with, divorce is actually very common and for a myriad of reasons, two people would want to decide to separate. The process of determining spousal support can be referred to in many other terms like alimony, maintenance or spousal payment.

To determine who pays spousal payment and who is entitled to that alimony, a number of factors have to be considered. Many divorce proceedings have a distinct mix of the factors to determine who pays alimony and the major factors are the length of marriage and the income difference that the two parties have. Stated simply, if a couple filing for divorce have been married for many years and the other party has a larger income, it's a high likelihood that the court will order the one with higher salary to pay alimony to the other.

Other factors that the court will have to look at to determine who pays spousal payment and who receives that maintenance money is the lifestyle that each of the parties are accustomed to, other contributions that each party has made to the marital estate, the level of education each party has and their earning potential. With a competent and highly skilled divorce lawyer, divorce cases in Sacramento can be argued with other factors like the money invested by one party wasted by the other or did one spouse have to put his or her life on hold just so the other could finish school or training to pursue a certain profession.

After all these factors are taken into consideration, the amount for spousal payment will then be determined and this is governed by another set of factors that don't stem far away from the factors to determine who pays the alimony. Some of these factors are the separate assets that each party has, the conduct of the spouses toward each other in the marriage and even the noneconomic contributions that each party has made to the marriage like homemaking, child care and even career building.

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In today's economy, everyone's dealing with financial pressure. Whether you are paying or receiving spousal and child support payments, you may be facing a lot of challenges these days. Either the payor or the payee could be out of a job or dealing with reduced hours and a reduction in pay. Either way, those alimony and child support payments are probably weighing heavily on your mind.

If you're behind on your alimony or child support -- or if your ex is -- you may be wondering whether bankruptcy will make those back-payments go away. It won't.

Alimony and child support payments are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. In fact, under bankruptcy law, spousal and child support payments have to be paid before any other creditor can take a piece of the debtor's assets -- even the tax man.

What Should I Do If My Ex Owes Child Support and Alimony And Is Filing for Bankruptcy?

Just because the law doesn't allow alimony or child support to be wiped out by bankruptcy does not mean you don't need to protect your interests. Just like any other creditor, you should make sure the bankruptcy court knows that you're pressing your claim by filing a "nondischargeability complaint" concerning any alimony or child support you are owed.

Both the bankruptcy trustee and the Child Support Enforcement program should notify you if your ex has filed for bankruptcy, so you should never be taken by surprise. Even if you do nothing, it is unlikely that the bankruptcy court would discharge the back-child support or alimony arrearages your ex owes you, but it's always a good idea to get good legal advice and protect yourself.

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(CN) - An Arizona woman should not have lost her spousal support because her boyfriend stayed over once a week, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled.

When Marc and Scarlet Chopin divorced in 2007, the decree called for Marc to pay Scarlet $2,500 per month, with the amount dropping to $1,000 in 2013.

The agreement called for the spousal maintenance to end if she lives with another man, with the exception of "A.R.," with whom both parties anticipated Scarlet would live.

Instead, Scarlet struck up a relationship with Robert Waddell. They were engaged through most of 2008 before the relationship ended.

Marc petitioned the court to end his spousal support on the basis of the new couple's co-habitation, which Scarlet denied.

The trial court and court of appeals agreed that the proper definition of "romantic co-habitation" was "living together and behaving as a married couple."

However, the appeals court ruled that the lower court improperly applied that definition to Scarlet and Waddell because they did not live together.

"Waddell testified that, during a six-month period, he spent one out of every six days at wife's house, Judge Daniel Barker wrote. "Husband presented no substantial evidence that Waddell spent more time at Wife's home."

Barker overturned the trial court's decision to halt Scarlet's spousal maintenance.

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AFTER 33 YEARS of marriage, Martha McDowell's husband told her he wanted a divorce. He provided few reasons. They were trivial, and to her did not justify ending their union.

"He just didn't want to be married anymore," says McDowell, now 60. "But he was my best friend, and I expected to spend the rest of my life with him."

That was four and a half years ago. Today, McDowell, of Hayward, is a new woman. She is a grandmother and works for an arts college, a job she loves. She is active in her Fremont church, and says it was her faith that helped her deal with the emotional issues that come with late-life divorce.

"My commitment to forgive was the most important thing for me," she says. "I didn't want to become bitter, and I didn't want my bitterness to poison my children."

Couples divorce every day. Yet it is particularly surprising when a marriage of more than 30 years ends. Take the recent announcement of Al and Tipper Gore's split. As the news spread, we felt a collective sense of sadness. What were they thinking? Why divorce after 40 years of marriage?

Late-life divorce is relatively uncommon. Sociologists agree that most people who have been married for a long time are happy. Nevertheless, some couples still drift. Marriages of 40 years or more account for 4 percent of divorces, according to Andrew Cherlin, a Johns Hopkins University sociology professor who studies families. It jumps to 8 percent for marriages of 30 to 39 years, likely because these couples are closer to life's empty nest stage, when children are grown and out of the house.

Late-life marriages dissolve for the same reasons any marriage does. Sometimes, there is abuse. Or infidelity. More often, the causes are even simpler: They grow apart, develop different goals, or no longer feel fulfilled. Contributing factors to late-life divorce, in particular, include increased life expectancy and longevity and a social acceptance of divorce that did not exist a generation ago, according to Beverly Hills Family Law Attorney Steven Knowles of Knowles Collum LLP.

Given the large size of the aging baby boomer population, this is somewhat new territory for sociologists, like Cherlin. After all, from an evolutionary perspective, the institution of marriage was designed to help you raise kids and put food on the table, he says.

"Only in the past half century have we had people who live long enough that they are together for 20 to 25 years after child-rearing," Cherlin says. "This is a new stage of life, and we're figuring out what to do with it." It used to be the middle aged who asked themselves, 'What should I do with my life?' Now, 60-year-olds do, he says.

Fifteen years ago, Al W.'s wife of 36 years filed for divorce. She was a stay-at-home mother of four sons and once they were grown and out of the house with children of their own, she wanted her independence to focus on a business venture, says Al, a retired pilot who asked that his last name be omitted to protect his family.

"She needed something more in life than coming home to me," says Al, now 70 and living in Pleasanton. "In hindsight, it was devastating. We didn't have a perfect marriage but I certainly thought we had a better relationship than a lot of our friends who stayed married."

Besides the financial aspect of a late-life divorce -- "You're talking about (losing) half your retirement," Al says -- the most difficult part for him was coming home to an empty house. Al eventually remarried and now has a 10-year-old daughter, who was born when he was 60.

"It was kind of late to start over but I wouldn't trade it for anything," he says. "I'm extremely happy." He has also remained friends with his ex-wife.

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California Divorce Overview

California is a 'no-fault' divorce state, which means that when a spouse requests a divorce, they will not need to specify a reason or prove wrong-doing on part of the other. From time of initial filing, the soonest a divorce can be finalized is 6 months.

No-fault does not mean no disagreements, though. If you foresee that there may be disagreements regarding how the family assets are going to be handled, or how the kids will be cared for, get professional advice immediately.

Even if you both agree on how to separate your lives, it is important to have the agreement reviewed by a professional. An advisor who has been involved in many divorces can help you spot weaknesses in the agreement and will help ensure that the final agreement is strong and will last for many, many years.

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