Alimony is often one of the most contentious issues of a divorce following child support and property division. An experienced family law attorney can aggressively advocate on your behalf whether that means arguing for an award of alimony or against a spouse's request for alimony. Florida alimony attorney

Alimony, sometimes called spousal support, is traditionally something that was awarded to women after a divorce. The function of alimony is to help a spouse maintain the lifestyle that he or she enjoyed during a divorce. Typically one of the spouses, usually the woman, sacrifices career opportunities in order to support the career of the other spouse. Often this takes the form of women staying at home to raise the children in a marriage, but alimony is now available to spouses of either sex.

Supporters of alimony believe that it alimony helps a spouse who has sacrificed his or her career for a partner maintain the lifestyle that he or she enjoyed during the marriage as a type of payment for the uncompensated services rendered during the marriage. Alimony reform groups in Florida and around the country characterize alimony as an antiquated type of divorce provision which is at odds with modern gender equality and pregnancy discrimination laws in workplaces.

There are several instances when an argument for alimony can strongly be made:

  • If a spouse requesting alimony put the other spouse through professional school.
  • If a spouse requesting alimony directly or indirectly enhanced the other spouse's career by taking care of domestic matters which allowed the other spouse to fully focus on his or her career.
  • If a spouse requesting alimony sacrificed educational or career opportunities for the betterment of the higher-earning spouse or the family.

An experienced divorce attorney can help make these arguments in cases where a spouse requesting alimony meets the other statutory requirements for alimony support.

Source: Forbes, "Alimony Reforms Continue to Create More Uncertainty for Divorcing Women," Jeff Landers, Jan. 18, 2012