Alimony and Spousal Support

In divorce cases, both parties experience many emotions that can cloud one’s judgment. Add in the legal jargon of these proceedings, and people get confused, which is costly in cases when determining alimony or spousal support. Getting answers from an attorney in these cases provides essential information and guidance that alleviates stress in this difficult time. Our attorneys at Beal Law Firm deal exclusively with family law cases, so we know best how to help you settle cases involving alimony in Texas.

Understanding The Terms

Clarifying divorce suits and explaining the legal jargon and rules in these cases is essential. Spousal support, spousal maintenance, and alimony are terms that we often use interchangeably. Mix in the words temporary, permanent, contractual, and court-ordered, and the concepts involved can confuse just in determining whether the parties discussing the matter are talking about the same thing. For the purposes of the discussion here, we will use the term spousal support for support, maintenance, and alimony.

Temporary Spousal Support

Although it is rare for any form of spousal support to be permanent in the sense that there is no end to it, as used here, Temporary spousal support is the term used for support that the court orders one spouse to pay the other while the case is pending. The case is pending from the filing of the case until there is a final divorce decree.

The single most important thing to understand about the concept of temporary spousal support is that there is no statutory limit governing the amount the court can order. It is conceivable for a court to order a party to pay temporary spousal support in an amount greater than the amount made by the paying party. If a divorce drags out for months or years, a court order of this type can be financially catastrophic.