I am thinking about getting divorced, will I get spousal support?

The court may order one spouse to pay the other a monetary amount of money as support. This order or concept is often referred to as alimony. 

The court is not required by law to make a spousal support order (compare this to child support order which MUST be made even if the amount ordered is zero). Generally, courts will make spousal support orders in marriages where one spouse has been the primary income provider.

A judge has discretion to award spousal support (or not) based on numerous factors and guidelines. 

Main facts to be evaluated:

• earning capacity of each spouse

• standard of living during the marriage or partnership

• balance of domestic responsibilities,

• amount of income generated by each of the parties throughout the marraige

• length of the marriage.

A judge must consider what each spouse or partner can earn to keep a standard of living similar to what they each had during the marriage or partnership.

To do this, the judge looks at:

• Marketable skills of the spouse or partner getting support;

• Job market for those skills;

• Time and expense the spouse or partner who gets support will need to get education or training to develop more marketable skills or to get a job;

• Extent the earning capacity (the ability to earn income) of the spouse or partner who gets support was impaired by periods of unemployment during the marriage/partnership when he or she was devoted to domestic duties (raising children and caring for the family home.

Find more free, public information on the California Court Website.