Alimony is a commonly used term in the United States, but what does it actually mean for the person receiving alimony? Alimony can be a lifelong payment from one spouse to another in order to help with support and personal needs. Sometimes getting alimony cannot be as easy as it seems. In such cases, it is essential to have an experienced Wisconsin divorce attorney by your side to help you achieve your goals.
A person may be required to pay alimony if he or she has the ability to pay it, but such a requirement is not always there. Alimony is considered to be a support payment, given by a higher-income spouse to his or her lower-income spouse. This is also known as spousal support. Alimony is meant to compensate for the loss of income that a person has experienced because of being on the receiving end of a divorce.
We will now see the different types of alimonies usually allocated in Wisconsin.
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Rehabilitative
There are times when the person paying alimony has a higher income than the person receiving alimony. In this case, the spouse receiving alimony would need financial support until s/he is capable of earning an amount equal to or greater than her or his spouse. The court would observe how long it would take for the person receiving alimony to achieve such capabilities and decide how much she or he will receive as a monthly payment and for how long.
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Compensatory
This type of alimony is given if the court decides that there has been a substantial contribution to the advancement of one spouse’s career by the other spouse. It is meant to punish a spouse for not sharing any income or assets and will give the other spouse an amount that they could have earned had they not made such contributions. In cases like this, it can be very helpful to have an experienced attorney by your side, who would know how to handle such a situation.
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Lifestyle maintenance
This type of alimony is given because it is meant to maintain the lifestyle that the paying spouse and the receiving spouse shared during the time they were married. The court will decide both spouses’ incomes and expenses and assess how much alimony is needed, depending on financial needs, in order to maintain a certain standard of living.
