Arizona Alimony & Spousal Maintenance Laws

Can I Modify Spousal Maintenance | Arizona

Michael Clancy

 

Spousal maintenance can be modified by showing a substantial and continuing change of financial circumstances. Well what does that mean? It can mean any number of things. It can mean that you changed jobs. It can mean you have moved. It can mean you have less parenting time. It can mean that you suffered a catastrophic injury and you’re not able to work anymore. Each case is unique and it requires a specific inspection by the attorney who you hire. Also to consider, if your decree says that spousal maintenance is non-modifiable, unfortunately at that point, the court doesn’t have the power to modify, so the answer to the question then would be no. But again, I would love to talk to you more about your case and if you’d like to talk to me, you can email me.

To modify spousal maintenance in Arizona, contact a Scottsdale divorce attorney.

By: Attorney Michael Clancy

Spousal maintenance can be modified by showing a substantial and continuing change of financial circumstances. Well what does that mean? It can mean any number of things. It can mean that you changed jobs. It can mean you have moved. It can mean you have less parenting time. It can mean that you suffered a catastrophic injury and you’re not able to work anymore. Each case is unique and it requires a specific inspection by the attorney who you hire. Also to consider, if your decree says that spousal maintenance is non-modifiable, unfortunately at that point, the court doesn’t have the power to modify, so the answer to the question then would be no. But again, I would love to talk to you more about your case and if you’d like to talk to me, you can email me.

To modify spousal maintenance in Arizona, contact a Scottsdale divorce attorney.

By: Attorney Michael Clancy

What Should I Expect During the First Meeting With My Divorce Attorney | Arizona

Mitchell Reichman

 

Hi, I’m Mitch Reichman. I’m a board certified family law specialist and I practice at Jaburg and Wilk.

How can I make the most of my first meeting?

The way a client can make the most of their first meeting with me is to be organized and to bring me basic general information. So I want a simple statement of their assets and their liabilities. I’d like to see the most recent three years of tax returns. And I recommend the client bring notes. At least bullet points of the topics the client would like to cover in that first meeting.

Should I bring all of my records to the first meeting?

I don’t ask them to bring a lot of documents to the first meeting. We’re going to follow up and gather a lot of documents during the process. Certainly I would not want the to bring a box of records to the meeting. It would be very inefficient, very expensive for the client for me to be thumbing through a box of records in that first meeting.

What information are you looking for initially?

We’re looking for broad strokes of information. We want to identify in that first meeting what the assets are and what the liabilities are. To find out about their children. To know about income and expenses. To see if someone is going to be needing spousal maintenance for example. So just broadly identify the topics we’re going to need to address. We’re going to gather a lot of details along the way, but that wouldn’t be a useful way to spend our time the first meeting.

By: Mitchell Reichman

Hi, I’m Mitch Reichman. I’m a board certified family law specialist and I practice at Jaburg and Wilk.

How can I make the most of my first meeting?

The way a client can make the most of their first meeting with me is to be organized and to bring me basic general information. So I want a simple statement of their assets and their liabilities. I’d like to see the most recent three years of tax returns. And I recommend the client bring notes. At least bullet points of the topics the client would like to cover in that first meeting.

Should I bring all of my records to the first meeting?

I don’t ask them to bring a lot of documents to the first meeting. We’re going to follow up and gather a lot of documents during the process. Certainly I would not want the to bring a box of records to the meeting. It would be very inefficient, very expensive for the client for me to be thumbing through a box of records in that first meeting.

What information are you looking for initially?

We’re looking for broad strokes of information. We want to identify in that first meeting what the assets are and what the liabilities are. To find out about their children. To know about income and expenses. To see if someone is going to be needing spousal maintenance for example. So just broadly identify the topics we’re going to need to address. We’re going to gather a lot of details along the way, but that wouldn’t be a useful way to spend our time the first meeting.

By: Mitchell Reichman

Minimum Marriage Length Requirement for Alimony to be Awarded | Scottsdale Alimony Laws

Greg Davis

 

Marriage Length Requirements

In Arizona, we refer to alimony as spousal maintenance and there isn’t a particular number of years people must be married in order for spousal maintenance to be ordered. There are many factors a court will consider. For more details, contact me, Greg Davis at Davis Limited, (602) 279-1900.

By: Greg Davis

Marriage Length Requirements

In Arizona, we refer to alimony as spousal maintenance and there isn’t a particular number of years people must be married in order for spousal maintenance to be ordered. There are many factors a court will consider. For more details, contact me, Greg Davis at Davis Limited, (602) 279-1900.

By: Greg Davis

Is Alimony Taxable in Arizona?

Kip Micuda

 

Alimony is referred to in Arizona as spousal support or spousal maintenance. The parent that receives alimony must report those payments as taxable income on his or her federal and state tax returns. A spouse that pays alimony must report those payments as a deduction on their federal and state tax returns. However, the parties can agree to treat alimony differently, as far as it’s taxability. They can agree to treat it is part of a property settlement or as part of an equalization. In that instance, there is no reporting of alimony on either party’s tax returns at all. If you have any questions about alimony and the taxability of it, please contact me at Hildebrand Law. The phone number is (480) 305-8300. Thank you.

By: Attorney Kip Micuda

Alimony is referred to in Arizona as spousal support or spousal maintenance. The parent that receives alimony must report those payments as taxable income on his or her federal and state tax returns. A spouse that pays alimony must report those payments as a deduction on their federal and state tax returns. However, the parties can agree to treat alimony differently, as far as it’s taxability. They can agree to treat it is part of a property settlement or as part of an equalization. In that instance, there is no reporting of alimony on either party’s tax returns at all. If you have any questions about alimony and the taxability of it, please contact me at Hildebrand Law. The phone number is (480) 305-8300. Thank you.

By: Attorney Kip Micuda

How is Alimony Determined in Arizona | Scottsdale Alimony Laws

C.D. Owens

 

Determining Alimony

That is perhaps the most difficult question that lawyers and judges have to make in these cases. There are so many variables that have to be considered that I could actually discuss them for the rest of the afternoon. There’s the age of the parties, how long they have been married, there’s how much money does each one of them make.

Alimony Example

For example, if a lady with a 20-year marriage is making $150,000 a year, no judge is going to award her spousal maintenance. His or her attitude will be that she can support herself, as she obviously can. But then after a decision is made whether a party qualifies to receive spousal maintenance, there’s a wide range of other things like standard of living that has been achieved during the marriage, health of the parties. You not only have to consider how much the wife may be earning, but you have to consider how much the payer is earning and whether he could pay spousal maintenance. All of those things have to be considered and we encourage people to give us a ring and talk to us about it.

By: CD Owens

Determining Alimony

That is perhaps the most difficult question that lawyers and judges have to make in these cases. There are so many variables that have to be considered that I could actually discuss them for the rest of the afternoon. There’s the age of the parties, how long they have been married, there’s how much money does each one of them make.

Alimony Example

For example, if a lady with a 20-year marriage is making $150,000 a year, no judge is going to award her spousal maintenance. His or her attitude will be that she can support herself, as she obviously can. But then after a decision is made whether a party qualifies to receive spousal maintenance, there’s a wide range of other things like standard of living that has been achieved during the marriage, health of the parties. You not only have to consider how much the wife may be earning, but you have to consider how much the payer is earning and whether he could pay spousal maintenance. All of those things have to be considered and we encourage people to give us a ring and talk to us about it.

By: CD Owens

How The Courts Determine Spousal Maintenance | Phoenix Family Law

Joel Hoffman

 

Spousal Maintenance in Arizona

Alimony, which is called spousal maintenance in Arizona, is determined by the factors outlined in Arizona revised statute title 25, section 319, subsection A and subsection B. The court first looks at the threshold criteria in subsection A.

Eligibility

The court will determine if a spouse is eligible for spousal maintenance after considering the following factors;

  • The property each spouse receives in the divorce
  • If a spouse is a stay at home parent with young children
  • if a spouse contributed to the educational opportunities of the other spouse
  • the reasonable monthly expenses of the spouse
  • the length of the marriage, and the health condition and employability of the spouse

If the court determines the spouse is eligible to receive spousal maintenance, under subsection A, then the court will consider the amount and duration under the thirteen statutory factors in subsection B.

If you call me at Warner Angle, (602) 264-7101, I’ll be glad to schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss your ability to receive spousal maintenance. I look forward to meeting with you soon.

By: Attorney Joel Hoffman

Spousal Maintenance in Arizona

Alimony, which is called spousal maintenance in Arizona, is determined by the factors outlined in Arizona revised statute title 25, section 319, subsection A and subsection B. The court first looks at the threshold criteria in subsection A.

Eligibility

The court will determine if a spouse is eligible for spousal maintenance after considering the following factors;

  • The property each spouse receives in the divorce
  • If a spouse is a stay at home parent with young children
  • if a spouse contributed to the educational opportunities of the other spouse
  • the reasonable monthly expenses of the spouse
  • the length of the marriage, and the health condition and employability of the spouse

If the court determines the spouse is eligible to receive spousal maintenance, under subsection A, then the court will consider the amount and duration under the thirteen statutory factors in subsection B.

If you call me at Warner Angle, (602) 264-7101, I’ll be glad to schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss your ability to receive spousal maintenance. I look forward to meeting with you soon.

By: Attorney Joel Hoffman

How Much Spousal Maintenance Will I Receive | Arizona

Laurence B. Hirsch

 

Arizona Dissolution of Marriage Law Implications

Hi. My name is Larry Hirsch, and I practice exclusively in the domestic relations group at Jaburg & Wilk. Talking about spousal maintenance, the great grey area in Arizona Dissolution of Marriage Law.

Spousal maintenance has no guidelines. It’s one of the keys that anybody has to understand. So, when a client asks me, what am I going to see receiving spousal maintenance, it’s almost impossible to tell them and there’s lots of reasons why but I want to relate a story. I help teach younger attorneys how to put on divorce trials. I remember one time we were doing this we had a panel of judges who came in to sit at our mock trial. We had five judges. We presented the exact same case, of course, to all five judges. All five judges had a different ruling on how much spousal maintenance the spouse was going to get and how long the spousal maintenance term was going to last. I like to tell that story because clients will ask all the time, how much am I going to pay in spousal maintenance? How much am I going to receive in spousal maintenance? The answer is always: “it depends”. That’s why we call it the great grey area.

There are a myriad of factors that play in to not only whether or not one is entitled to spousal maintenance but more specifically how much spousal maintenance one will receive and for how long.

By: Laurence B. Hirsch

Arizona Dissolution of Marriage Law Implications

Hi. My name is Larry Hirsch, and I practice exclusively in the domestic relations group at Jaburg & Wilk. Talking about spousal maintenance, the great grey area in Arizona Dissolution of Marriage Law.

Spousal maintenance has no guidelines. It’s one of the keys that anybody has to understand. So, when a client asks me, what am I going to see receiving spousal maintenance, it’s almost impossible to tell them and there’s lots of reasons why but I want to relate a story. I help teach younger attorneys how to put on divorce trials. I remember one time we were doing this we had a panel of judges who came in to sit at our mock trial. We had five judges. We presented the exact same case, of course, to all five judges. All five judges had a different ruling on how much spousal maintenance the spouse was going to get and how long the spousal maintenance term was going to last. I like to tell that story because clients will ask all the time, how much am I going to pay in spousal maintenance? How much am I going to receive in spousal maintenance? The answer is always: “it depends”. That’s why we call it the great grey area.

There are a myriad of factors that play in to not only whether or not one is entitled to spousal maintenance but more specifically how much spousal maintenance one will receive and for how long.

By: Laurence B. Hirsch

Sole & Separate Home & Business Divorce Case | Arizona Family Law

Laurence B. Hirsch

 

Separate Business in Divorce Case

Hi. My name is Larry Hirsch, and I practice exclusively in the domestic relations group at Jaburg & Wilk. Arizona has a case called [?], and that case has allowed the spouse that doesn’t own the business to actually have an interest in the appreciation and value of that business during the course of the marriage. What we’re looking at is labor, toil, and efforts of the community. Best way to think about this is, if I have a sole and separate business and I’m actually doing something to help that business, my spouse may have a claim to my sole and separate property.

Separate Home in Divorce Case

This same situation can occur with separate property homes. So let’s say that you get married, and you have a house that’s worth $500,000. Your community earnings bought the new pool, the new landscaping, and put in the addition, and when you file for divorce that house is worth $1.5 million, so you’ve got $1,000,000 of appreciation during the marriage. Is it fair that the spouse who owned the house coming into the marriage receives all $1,000,000 of appreciation? The courts in Arizona don’t typically think so. So those are two situations where your sole and separate property is not necessarily 100% your sole and separate property. Always be wary that there may be what we call a community lien on your separate property.

By: Laurence B. Hirsch

Separate Business in Divorce Case

Hi. My name is Larry Hirsch, and I practice exclusively in the domestic relations group at Jaburg & Wilk. Arizona has a case called [?], and that case has allowed the spouse that doesn’t own the business to actually have an interest in the appreciation and value of that business during the course of the marriage. What we’re looking at is labor, toil, and efforts of the community. Best way to think about this is, if I have a sole and separate business and I’m actually doing something to help that business, my spouse may have a claim to my sole and separate property.

Separate Home in Divorce Case

This same situation can occur with separate property homes. So let’s say that you get married, and you have a house that’s worth $500,000. Your community earnings bought the new pool, the new landscaping, and put in the addition, and when you file for divorce that house is worth $1.5 million, so you’ve got $1,000,000 of appreciation during the marriage. Is it fair that the spouse who owned the house coming into the marriage receives all $1,000,000 of appreciation? The courts in Arizona don’t typically think so. So those are two situations where your sole and separate property is not necessarily 100% your sole and separate property. Always be wary that there may be what we call a community lien on your separate property.

By: Laurence B. Hirsch

Does the Court Consider Separate Property When Determining Alimony | Phoenix Divorce Laws

Erik Bergstrom

 

4 Factors to Determine Alimony Eligibility

In Arizona, alimony is called spousal maintenance. There are four specific criteria that the court must evaluate in determining whether a spouse is entitled to spousal maintenance, and the central theme is whether the requesting spouse can provide for his or her reasonable needs.

Separate & Community Property

In determining whether a spouse can meet his or her needs, the court can consider that spouse’s sole and separate property, along with any community property that is awarded to that spouse as part of the divorce. If the court determines that one spouse is entitled to spousal maintenance, the court then considers all other relevant factors, including thirteen specific statutory factors to determine the amount and duration of the award.

Determining Amount & Duration

The factors that potentially relate to separate property include the following: the ability of the paying spouse to meet his or her own needs and still pay something to the other spouse; the comparative financial resources of each spouse; and the ability of the parties to contribute to the future educational costs of their common children. So, separate property can be considered both when determining if a spouse is entitled to spousal maintenance and if so, the amount and duration of the award. If you would like more information, please contact me.

By: Attorney Erik Bergstrom

4 Factors to Determine Alimony Eligibility

In Arizona, alimony is called spousal maintenance. There are four specific criteria that the court must evaluate in determining whether a spouse is entitled to spousal maintenance, and the central theme is whether the requesting spouse can provide for his or her reasonable needs.

Separate & Community Property

In determining whether a spouse can meet his or her needs, the court can consider that spouse’s sole and separate property, along with any community property that is awarded to that spouse as part of the divorce. If the court determines that one spouse is entitled to spousal maintenance, the court then considers all other relevant factors, including thirteen specific statutory factors to determine the amount and duration of the award.

Determining Amount & Duration

The factors that potentially relate to separate property include the following: the ability of the paying spouse to meet his or her own needs and still pay something to the other spouse; the comparative financial resources of each spouse; and the ability of the parties to contribute to the future educational costs of their common children. So, separate property can be considered both when determining if a spouse is entitled to spousal maintenance and if so, the amount and duration of the award. If you would like more information, please contact me.

By: Attorney Erik Bergstrom

12
Family Law lawyers listing in .
Family Law Articles

Arizona Dissolution of Marriage

In divorce, many issues require a resolution. Those issues can be resolved either by you or by the court before you can…

Read More

A Judge Can Order a Parent to Attend Counseling in Arizona

A Judge Orders a Parent to Attend Domestic Violence Counseling in Arizona Can a judge order a parent in a child custody…

Read More