How to Negotiate Alimony with Your Spouse

Getting involved in a lengthy court battle for alimony will only stress your financial resources further. It is therefore better to choose an out of court settlement for your alimony issues. For the most part, mediation and negotiation are the ideal alternatives in certain circumstances. However, it is important to learn about how judges rule on alimony. This will help you prepare for the negotiations with your divorce lawyer in Greenville, SC.

Assess Your Spouse’s Financial Resources

It is important to have the details of your spouse’s assets as well as his/her financial instruments. This is because if you cannot determine a figure you will not be able to negotiate properly. This holds well too if you are the one paying alimony.

Whenever couples file for divorce they are bound by the state laws to disclose all their financial details. These details are taken even before it is decided who will pay alimony. The recipient’s financial information is important because it gives a clear idea about their financial condition and thereby helps to determine how much alimony the recipient spouse will need. In the same way, the spouse who is to pay alimony will have to divulge their information so that the court is able to understand how much the person capable of paying. Hopefully that person is not ripped off by his ex-wife like what was happening in The Wire with Det. McNulty.

How much money did Elena think he made? How greedy can one person be? She was even hanging out with men who made much more money than her ex did. That is just rotten! Kids are not that expensive.

Northwestern South Carolina divorce attorneys stress the fact that it is paramount to be aware of your partner’s finances and pass the information on to your legal representative as well.

Separate assets – You must provide details of assets that your spouse holds separately. The value of those assets can help a judge determine support.

Get accurate income and expense information – Secondly, once you have information on your spouse’s income and his expenses you will be able to identify his/her expensive tastes and habits. For instance, your spouse splurges on expensive cars when you cannot even afford a cab ride this needs to be pointed out to the judge. It also works the other way round. For example, if your wife has millions of dollars’ worth of separate assets and is yet fighting for a larger chunk of alimony you must make that aware to the court or mediator.

Benefits, bonuses, and overtime – Try to determine your spouse’s work-related bonuses and overtime pay. In addition, gather as much knowledge of stock options he or she holds, and company benefits like unused-leave pay or sick pay along with health insurance and life insurance policies.

Evaluate Your Needs

You must look into your income and expense details thoroughly and then take consider your assets to arrive at figure that you must ask for. Bear in mind that expenses will increase every year. So make a provision in the agreement to increase the amount by a certain percentage and your Greenville, SC divorce lawyer will be helping you during these negotiations.

When you have significant assets and there are children involved your divorce can get complicated. You will need to settle on a number of sensitive issues such as child custody, visitation, alimony, division of assets, debts, and bank accounts. Therefore, it would be vital to speak with a divorce lawyer in northwestern South Carolina to help broker financial settlements, solve custody issues, and facilitate an out of court settlement to avoid costly and time consuming court battles.

Your ex may want no part of you but we do. We know you need legal help. That is why we built this site for you: Divorce.USAttorneys.com. Do not worry, your ex cannot take this from you!