If your Massachusetts marriage is nearing its end, you may have concerns about being able to support yourself financially in its aftermath. Conversely, you may have been the primary breadwinner within your marriage, and you may have questions about whether you will need to support your former spouse financially for a period after your divorce becomes final.
Regardless of which side of the coin you fall on, the things the state considers when issuing alimony determinations remains the same. Such factors typically include the following:
The length of your marriage
As you might imagine, the chances of a judge issuing alimony often increase with the length of your marriage. While every situation is different, generally, alimony arrangements are more common in divorces involving people who were married for long amounts of time.
Your age and health and that of your spouse
Massachusetts courts will also typically weigh the age and physical health of both parties in the marriage when making decisions relating to alimony. Often, age and health affect employability, so alimony arrangements may be more likely in situations where divorcing parties are older, or in failing health.
The contributions you both made to marriage and family
The contributions you both made with regard to your family will likely also factor in to any alimony decisions. For example, say you quit working so that you could raise children, or so that your spouse could continue his or her education or otherwise work to build a career. A judge may be more willing to award alimony if you made personal sacrifices for the betterment of your family unit.
These are just some of the many areas the state may examine when deciding whether to award alimony in your divorce. Your marital lifestyle, your income and other factors may, too, come into play. Please note, however, that this is not a comprehensive list of all possible factors the state may weigh.