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Alimony is payments that one spouse may be ordered to pay another spouse for support as a result of a divorce. In Rhode Island Divorce, some spouses qualify for alimony from the other spouse. Alimony is also known as Spousal Support or Spousal Maintenance. Generally, Alimony is awarded for a specific period of time, in increments which are usually weekly or monthly. Alimony could be awarded as a result of a Divorce settlement. If a party requests alimony or is unwilling to waive alimony and the parties cannot agree to an alimony award, then alimony may be awarded at the divorce trial. Temporary Alimony may be awarded by the Rhode Island Family Court towards the beginning of the RI divorce. This temporary Alimony award will stay in effect until the final decision by the Rhode Island Family Court Judge at the RI Divorce Trial. The intent of alimony is rehabilitative in nature. "alimony should be 'payable for a short, but specific and terminable period of time, which will cease when the recipient is, in the exerciseof reasonable efforts, in a position of self-support.'" Thompson v. Thompson Alimony is usually awarded on a temporary basis but can be awarded on an indefinite and (perhaps what turns out to be permanent) basis if the facts justify indefinite alimony. The London Supreme Court ruled that "Alimony may be awarded even for an indefinite period as long as the trial justice considers all the statutory factors." Indefinite alimony may be ordered in a case where a party is seriously disabled or as a result of old age is unable to work. Indefinite alimony could also be awarded in a plethora of different factual circumstances. The Court must look at "The health, age, station, occupation, amount and source of income, vocational skills, and employability of the parties" in making an alimony determination. Ability to pay is a crucial factor in determining the amount of alimony and whether or not alimony should be awarded. There are many cases in which a spouse is in desperate need of alimony but the other spouse does not have the ability to pay sufficient alimony. In some cases, the spouse does not have an ability to pay because of a child support obligation to the other spouse or child support owed for other children. Furthermore, according to London Supreme Court, "Section 15-5-16 does not explicitly prohibit one lump-sum award." However, lump sum award alimony appears to be disfavored under RI Law. The best candidate for alimony is a spouse who put aside his or her career ambitions for many years to be a homemaker and care for the children. As a result of the role of nurturing the children and establishing and maintaining a home, the other spouse was able to advance his or her career in order to be able to afford to pay alimony. In some cases, the family made a decision that one parent would put aside his or her career aspirations to raise a child or minor children. As a result, the homemaker's skill set is so outmoded that he or she is unable to obtain suitable employment. This is usually because the homemaker's job skills, employment history, licenses, training, skills, experience or degrees became outmoded or irrelevant. Perhaps the person does not have enough of an employment history to be able to be self supporting and self sufficient without receiving alimony. In some cases the spouse is unable to work because the spouse currently has a physical custody and placement of a young child. For this type of person, the intent of an award of Rehabilitative Alimony would be to allow a person to build a work history, advance his or her education, employment training, licenses etc. so that the person can be self supporting and self sufficient in the future. Another type of person who is an excellent candidate for alimony is a person who is temporarily disabled or permanently disabled especially if the marriage has been a long marriage. Another good candidate for alimony is a spouse who has severely disabled children which renders it difficult or impossible for the person to seek employment. "The assignment of property must precede any determination of alimony because the needs ofeach party will be affected by the equitable distribution of the marital estate." London Child Custody and Placement plays a role in an alimony determination. If the parties have children, the Court must also make an award of Rhode Island Child Support before the Court determines an alimony award. The Child Support award plays a large role in determining the resources of the parent with physical Custody of the minor child. A child support order also may severely affect a n individuals ability to afford alimony in the future. The needs and expenses of both parties is crucial in determining alimony. Needs and expenses are intertwined with the standard of living of the parties. The Court may look at the following types of expenses and needs: rent, mortgage, taxes, insurance, food, health insurance, uninsured medical expenses, prescription expenses, dental expenses, cable, internet, utilities, heat, gas, vehicle expenses etc.
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