Alimony and Spousal Maintenance

Deciding to file for an Oklahoma divorce is a big step, but after that decision has been made there are a number of additional issues that must be addressed. The terms of the divorce must be discussed either directly between the former partners or with the assistance of their respective attorneys. If they can reach an agreement on all of the terms, they can avoid the expenses and hard feelings that go along with a contested divorce proceeding.

Most of the terms that a divorcing couple must address are universally applicable to all cases. These would include the distribution of shared property and mutually assumed debt and child-related matters like custody, visitation and support if the parties do indeed have children together. The one possible divorce term that is not going to be appropriate in all cases is that of alimony, which is alternately referred to as spousal maintenance or spousal support.

Spousal support is a payment made by one former partner called the “supporting spouse” to the other, who is termed the “dependent spouse.” In the state of Oklahoma it is not assumed that either party has an inherent responsibility to support the other financially in the event of a divorce. The laws that underpin the matter of spousal support can be found in Title 43, Sections 121 and 136 of the Oklahoma Statutes.

Alimony or spousal support can be either temporary and “rehabilitative” or permanent. Rehabilitative alimony in intended to provide financial support for a limited period of time while the dependent spouse is conducting a job search or obtaining the skills necessary to reenter the workforce. Permanent alimony is somewhat self explanatory. It is an ongoing source of income for the dependent spouse paid for an indefinite period of time.

Alimony or spousal support can be agreed upon privately between the parties involved or ordered at the discretion of the court if no agreement can be reached.

For legal advice about alimony and spousal maintenance, contact a Lawton OK family attorney to arrange for a free consultation.