New Hampshire Spousal Support / Alimony

Spousal Support in NH Divorce Cases

Divorce can take a debilitating toll on families. To go along with the stress of dissolving a union between man and wife, there are financial obligations that are taken into consideration as well. In divorce cases in New Hampshire, spousal support is defined as "an allowance for support made under court order to a divorced person by the former spouse, usually the chief provider during the marriage." Spousal support may also be ordered to be paid if two people, even though they are not officially divorced as of yet, are legally separated, or no longer living together. Spousal support can either be paid by the ex-husband to the ex-wife, or vice versa. In high-conflict cases some spouses will fight very hard and even “play dirty” to avoid paying spousal support. Opposing counsel can be intimidating in order to not have you put up a fight for what you need and deserve to receive for spousal support. Our experienced family litigation attorneys are not intimidated by the other side – ever! We know what we’re doing and will fight just as hard, if not harder, for what you need for financial support.

New Hampshire statute 458:31, Orders for Support of Spouse, states that "If either spouse is living apart from the other without justifiable cause or willingly absents himself or herself from the other, the superior court, upon his or her petition, or if insane by his or her guardian or next friend, may issue orders which may at the discretion of the court be ex parte and which may grant such relief." In short, the statute states that if one member of a divorcing party relied on the other for financial support, then that dependent party will continue to rely on that financially supportive party as is deemed necessary by the court.

In awarding spousal support, the court uses a grouping of determining factors to arrive at a consensus as to how much the support payment should be. Duration of the marriage, the ages and health conditions of the parties involved, the current employment situations of the parties involved, and how employable they are, the division of property between the two divorcing parties, and who the blame for the dissolution of marriage favors are all taken in consideration in order to calculate spousal support payments. However, spousal support is not permanent, and will eventually dissipate altogether if determining factors change, such as if an ex-spouse decides to remarry or if an ex-spouse's financial situation improves and support is no longer necessary. Don’t let anyone convince you that alimony is obsolete. The law still stands and we are prepared and experienced in this vital area of family litigation.