Lower your Spousal Support ! Law Offices of Richard K. Isles Attorneys Riverside California

Lower your Spousal Support !

Spousal Support
Attorney Richard K. Isles discusses Long Term Marriage Spousal Support in California

In California, a long term marriage is considered to be 10 years of marriage. California case law has established the long term marriage. This can be important in spousal support cases because the basis for support in a marriage that is under 10 years is normally caluculated at half the time of the marriage. An example would be if a man and wife were married for eight years, then support would be ordered for about 4 years.

If the duration of your marriage is 10 years or more, California Family Code Section 4336 states: "except on written agreement of the parties to the contrary or a court order terminating spousal support, the court retains jurisdiction indefinitely in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or for legal separation of the parties where the marriage is of long duration." The last part "long duration" has been challenged many times in the Family Courts. However, case law has established a "long duration" to be 10 years of marriage. Another notable area is "except on written agreement of the parties" - In other words, as an alternative, maybe the parties can establish a written agreement to end the support at a certain time. An experienced attorney will outline to his client the various strategies in spousal support cases so the client knows his/her options.

The most difficult part for the paying spouse to accept occurs when the marriage was 10 or more years and the non- paying spouse may have been kept from working or attempting to obtain any work during the 10 plus years of marriage. In this scenario, the Court has jurisdiction to potentially continue support for more than half the duration of the parties marriage. The court normally considers other factors as well, such as employability of the receiving spouse, their standard of living plus the paying spouses ability to pay, which in difficult economic times, can be lowered. These are some of the factors considered by the courts in spousal support long term marriage support cases.

If you are unable to continue to support your ex-spouse due to economic reasons, or your spouse has not made an attempt to become employed, yet is employable, you may need to go into court with an aggressive lawyer. Attorney Isles has fought spousal support cases countless times in his 20 years practicing family law. If you need your spousal support lowered due to financial hardship, call the lawyer people want in their court!

Whether your living in or outside of Caifornia, we can help if your case was filed in the Inland Empire Courts. Read our client testimonials page. Contact our office for a free consultation.

Consultations are no charge. Call (951) 352-8700

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