NEW YORK AND WHITE PLAINS SPOUSAL SUPPORT LAWYER
Spousal support or maintenance, formerly known as “alimony”, refers to money the court can order to be paid in addition to child support, to ensure the dependent spouse will have support after the divorce. It is particularly important for a spouse who may have chosen to stay home to raise the children and thereby given up career opportunities for the better good of the family.
Whether you are the paying spouse or the dependent spouse, negotiating maintenance requires an in-depth understanding of the couple’s finances and a clear understanding of nuanced spousal support laws. Lisa Zeiderman is an experienced family law attorney with the skills and resources necessary to protect your financial interests during and after your divorce.
From Lisa’s interview for the Masters of Family Law series on reellawyers.com
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so couple of ways to do that you can
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avoid paying alimony by signing a
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prenuptual agreement that’s first and
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foremost you can avoid alimony it’s so
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simple before you get married sign a
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prenuptual agreement where you are
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waving or your spouse is waving the
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right to receive alimony people don’t
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think about it but it’s really one of
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the most important parts of signing a
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prenup is so that you’re not in that
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situation of paying alimony later in the
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event of a divorce if you haven’t done
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that perhaps you’re now thinking well I
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should have signed that prenuptual
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agreement but I didn’t do it I didn’t
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have time for it I didn’t think about it
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I I was embarrassed to ask about it it
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could be another route to sign a
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postnuptial agreement and everybody can
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wave alimony in a postnuptial agreement
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and that would be during the marriage
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that’s two good sure bets on how to
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actually avoid paying pay alimony either
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the prenup or the postnup here’s another
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way to avoid paying alimony encourage
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your spouse to have a career a full and
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flourishing career because if you don’t
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do that your spouse is likely to be more
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dependent on you in the event of a
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divorce look if you want a spouse who is
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going to stay home and take care of the
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children and take care of the household
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and that is very you know that that is
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supportive for you then you may actually
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have have to pay alimony to that spouse
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when this when there’s a divorce and
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maybe that’s appropriate because that
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spouse has not been in the workforce for
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many years because they’ve been
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supporting your career and so it’s
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important if you don’t want to pay
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alimony incourage your spouse to have a
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career encourage your spouse to get
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training to develop that career and help
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out help out with the children get the
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support that your spouse needs to
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develop their career that will help you
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avoid alimony payments
Determining Spousal Support
From Lisa’s interview for the Masters of Family Law series on reellawyers.com
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so this court is going to look at
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certainly the age the health of the
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parties how long again the marriage is
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the lifestyle of the parties now this is
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a tricky Factor here because lifestyle
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is an important factor but it also
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doesn’t mean that someone is going to
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have to be paying for your lifestyle
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exactly the way it is so when people
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come in very often looking for spousal
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support they believe that their spouse
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is going to be able to dollar for dooll
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they’re going to match what their
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lifestyle is and sometimes that’s just
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not possible because it may have been
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possible while you were all living
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together as one unit but now you’ve got
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two homes and you’ve got two places that
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your children may be living and you’ve
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got other expenses and so lifestyle is
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definitely a factor but it is not the
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only Factor the income of both of the
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parties the ability to work was their
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domestic violence that is also something
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that the court may look at was there
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domestic violence and did that inhibit a
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party from working that domestic
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violence and sometimes it does actually
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the other idea about maintenance or
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alimony or spousal support is what is
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the equitable distribution that you’re
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receiving so if you’re receiving
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millions of dollars well those millions
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of dollars are going to give off income
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that’s going to affect how much income
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should be imputed to you and that will
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affect your spousal support I’ll give an
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example someone is going to receive $5
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to10 million of of equitable
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distribution well that might be anywhere
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from $250,000 to $500,000 a year in
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income yes it’ll be taxable in terms of
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um because it’s now investment income
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spousal support by the way is not
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taxable and not tax deductible on the
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federal level so we should remember that
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but bottom line is that is income to you
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and the court must factor that in and
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then any other factors that the court
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cares to decide is is appropriate to
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factor in for this
In accordance with Domestic Relations Law, there are multiple statutory factors that are considered in determining the correct amount and duration of spousal support necessary in each case. They are as follows:
- The age and health of the parties;
- The present or future earning capacity of the parties, including a history of limited participation in the workforce;
- The need of one party to incur education or training expenses;
- The termination of a child support award before the termination of the maintenance award when the calculation of maintenance was based upon child support being awarded and which resulted in a maintenance award lower than it would have been had child support not been awarded;
- The wasteful dissipation of marital property, including transfers or encumbrances made in contemplation of a matrimonial action without fair consideration;
- The existence and duration of a pre-marital joint household or a pre-divorce separate household;
- Acts by one party against another that have inhibited or continue to inhibit a party’s earning capacity or ability to obtain meaningful employment. Such acts include but are not limited to acts of domestic violence as provided in section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the social services law;
- The availability and cost of medical insurance for the parties;
- The care of children or stepchildren, disabled adult children or stepchildren, elderly parents or in-laws provided during the marriage that inhibits a party’s earning capacity;
- The tax consequences to each party;
- The standard of living of the parties established during the marriage;
- The reduced or lost earning capacity of the payee as a result of having forgone or delayed education, training, employment or career opportunities during the marriage;
- The equitable distribution of marital property and the income or imputed income on the assets so distributed;
- The contributions and services of the payee as a spouse, parent, wage earner and homemaker and to the career or career potential of the other party; and
- Any other factor which the court shall expressly find to be just and proper.
Put an Experienced Attorney on Your Side
It is very important to have a knowledgeable attorney advocating for your position. Call 914-488-2402 to schedule a consultation with Lisa Zeiderman. She practices in Manhattan, Westchester and beyond from her offices in New York City and White Plains.