Leading family law attorney, Francis King, reveals three factors to help determine alimony payments in a divorce – Nashville, Tennessee

Francis King, a top family law attorney in Nashville, TN, has just revealed 3 key factors that will have a major impact on who gets alimony in a divorce including how much and for how long.

Nashville, Tennessee, United States – December 22, 2017 /MM-REB/ —

Leading family lawyer, Francis King, has just revealed three key factors in helping to determine alimony for his clients in Nashville, Tennessee.

For more information please visit http://franciskinglaw.com/nashville-office/

After many years of experience, Mr. King says that the biggest problem his clients face in alimony cases is trying to find out if alimony is actually a factor and if so the type and duration of alimony available for their specific case.

According to Mr. King, even though it can be difficult to come up with a definitive answer, there are three indicators he uses to help give clients an outline of their situation.

1. Length of Marriage

One key factor is the duration of the marriage. The rule of thumb is, according to Mr. King, the longer the marriage, the more likely it is that alimony will be awarded.

When asked to elaborate, Mr. King said, “Shorter marriages that are around 5-6 years are less likely to result in an alimony requirement and if there is one, it is unlikely to be of a long duration.”

However, in the case of mid-range marriages, there is more of a grey area.

“Let’s say that a couple in their late 30s have been married for 12 years and they have two kids. The husband makes a six-figure income, and the wife is a stay-at-home mother.”

“This is a case where the wife will get alimony, but then it will come down to how much she will get and for how long,” he said

This brought up Mr King’s second key factor in trying to ascertain the level of alimony that might be due in a case.

2. Relative Incomes

When asked to explain, King said, “Factors that will affect this include the ability of the disadvantaged spouse to earn in the future and the time and training it will take for them to achieve those earnings.”

“If the husband in that same 12-year marriage makes $150,000 per year, and it’s determined that the wife is economically disadvantaged, then she will be entitled to a post-divorce standard of living comparable to that of the husband for a period of time. That’s the first point.”

“But if it’s determined she is able to earn an income after a period of time with further education and training then the alimony will only last until that earning ability kicks in or the amount of the alimony may be reduced.”, he said.

Therefore in most alimony arrangements involving mid-range relationships, according to Mr. King, there would be generally no permanent alimony awarded.

Long-term alimony is usually awarded in a long-term marriage and only “for cases that really warrant it” with regard to relative income, according to Mr King.

When asked for an example where this would be the case, Mr. King said, “Long-term alimony is typically granted for couples who have been in marriages for say 30 years where one spouse has not been in the workforce for most of the marriage.”

3. Need v Ability To Pay

Another significant component in figuring out alimony that Mr. King looks at is comparing the need for payment from one side compared with the other side’s ability to make that payment.

When asked to elaborate, Mr. King is quoted as saying, “Let’s say that a couple are both in the workforce and they’ve been married for 20 years and didn’t have any children.”

“The husband makes $90,000 and the wife earns $75,000. It would be hard to justify alimony in this case.”

Mr. King added, “it would be hard to show that the wife needed payments and the discrepancy incomes is not so large as to warrant alimony.”

For more information on this subject please visit http://franciskinglaw.com/

Contact Info:
Name: Francis King
Organization: Law Offices of Francis King
Address: 511 Union St #1850, Nashville, TN 37219, USA
Phone: 615-385-7654

For more information, please visit http://franciskinglaw.com/

Source: MM-REB

Release ID: 281157