Permanent spousal support
To consider what is reasonable, the Family Code lists 12 factors that a court must apply. Generally, those factors are listed as follows: 1. Marketable skills;2. The possibility of impaired ability to work due to periods of unemployment;3. Whether or not there have been contributions to the attainment of education or training;4. Whether or not the supporting party has an ability to pay spousal support;5. The respective needs of the parties by reference to the marital standard of living;6. The obligations and assets of each of the respective parties;7. The duration of the marriage and particularly with regard to whether or not the proposed supported spouse was employed during the marriage and whether the marriage is one requiring retention of the court's jurisdiction;8. The impact of any child care upon the supported party's ability to work;9. The ages and health of the parties respectively;10. Whether or not there was any documented domestic violence by either of the parties;11. The tax consequences on the proposed order, recognizing that spousal support is deductible to the payor and reportable as income by the payee;12. A balancing of the hardships upon each party.It is a recognized goal of spousal support that each party to a marriage is to be, or will be, self-supporting. When making a spousal support order, the court will usually advise the supported party that they should make reasonable efforts to become self-supporting at some point in time. |