Spousal support in Louisiana, which is also known as alimony, is court-mandated financial support for a spouse once a divorce is finalized.

Spousal support in Louisiana

Alimony laws typically differ from one state to another. As a result, the court usually has a significant degree of flexibility on cases when trying to determine whether alimony is to award, how much is to award, and the duration of the payments.

How is Spousal support in Louisiana?

The state of Louisiana sees a divorced individual, or one going through a legal separation, marriage dissolution, or divorce can file for spousal support or alimony as it is also known.

When spousal support is requested, numerous factors must consider by both the court and the judge deliberating on the case.

The party requesting spousal support has to not be at fault for the divorce to receive any prospective alimony payments.

Each party’s ability to maintain a similar lifestyle while the marriage was still in existence is a major consideration for spousal support.

Other factors such as the ability of each party to gain sufficient employment and their current skills, training, or education needed to acquire or maintain those skills.

Another factor that is considered is the extent of support either spouse gave to the other to help them attain their prospective or current income-earning level by either giving up their time or deferring their ability. An example of this is helping to pay for a spouse’s education or vocational training.

The length of the former marriage and the financial contributions made by both parties to ensure the marriage succeeded are other factors taken into account.

The spouse’s financial ability that expects to make the spousal support payments is also considered, as if they are unable to make such payments, there will be no requirement for them.

That being said, there will be additional requirements and restrictions placed elsewhere. For example, the properties and assets of the two parties can consider. However, property and assets acquired before the relationship or separate cannot consider.

The spouse that has custody of the children, if any, and child support, if any, are two additional factors taken into consideration when determining if spousal support is necessary and the amount of the payment.

Suppose the spouse that has custody of the children can’t support themselves as a result of said children being young or riddled with the condition that hinders that party’s ability to fend for the child. In that case, it could have a major influence when deciding if alimony is appropriate.

It is the judge’s prerogative to decide if alimony is to award and how much if the two individuals involved are unable to come to an agreement.

The factors considered when calculating alimony in the state of Louisiana

Louisiana is legally mandated to take into account a couple of variables when calculating how much is to be paid in alimony and for how long. The state has a distinct factors list as given by its statutes which have to be deliberated upon by a judge regarding alimony payments.

The state of Louisiana considers the marital fault of a spouse when deliberating on alimony. It means when a divorce is “at fault,” either caused by abuse, adultery, infidelity, etc.

It could result in the spouse that is at fault paying more in alimony payments. Standard of living is another factor that considers when figuring out alimony payments.

A judge is able to consider the previous lifestyle earned by both spouses in the marriage to help give an appropriate alimony payment.