Spousal Support

A divorce can wreck a stable home and lifestyle really fast. At Carabin Shaw P.C. our San Antonio family law attorneys understand that you need financial help to make it through the divorce process and maintain a quality of life for you and your family. The Court can award the person with a higher earning capacity to pay spousal support to the other party in certain situations to maintain a quality of life and meet reasonable financial needs.

Highlights of Spousal Support:

• Court may award spousal support if one spouse is unable to adequately financially provide for themselves and if one of the following applies; A spouse is found guilty of domestic violence against a spouse or a child, one spouse cannot provide for themselves based on mental or physical disabilities, marriage lasted ten years or longer and the other spouse cannot meet their basic financial needs, the spouse with possession of child who has special needs.
• It’s not automatically awarded.
• How long the marriage lasted can affect the duration of payments for spousal support.
• The monthly amount cannot exceed $5,000.00 dollars or 20% of the other paying spouses average monthly income, whichever is the lesser amount.
• Court can consider the contribution one spouse made to the other in determining the spousal support amount.
• Court can consider additional factors such as adultery, earning capacity, education, and employment skills of paying spouse.
• Spouse receiving support must also show that they are actively looking for a job and a sincere effort has been made to meet their needs that has been unsuccessful.
• Spouse seeking support must show how long it will take to find a job to support themselves or meet their basic financial needs.
• Highly sought after by unemployed stay at home moms and dads who have not worked in years or ever to act as a homemaker.