Understanding Spousal Support
Is Oklahoma an alimony state? I’m Tulsa Attorney James Wirth, that’s the question that we have. Actually, the person says is Oklahoma an alimony state? Do you have to be married 13 years? Do you have to be married 10 years? How long do you have to be married? That’s the exact question that we had come in, and the answer is Oklahoma is an alimony state in the case that the court can order a party to pay the other party alimony or spousal support, but it does not require marriage for any specific length of time.
It is fully within the discretion of the court to decide how long spousal support should be and how much spousal support should be paid. So if you’re requesting spousal support in Oklahoma, you need to be able to demonstrate to the court that you have a need to be supported and that the other party has the ability to support you and that the support you’re requesting is commensurate with what you are used to in the marriage and your need is somehow tied to the marriage.
Factors Considered in Spousal Support Cases
So if you gave up a career in order to take care of the kids, then your need now is gonna be tied to the marriage. If you gave up education in order to take care of the kids or take care of your spouse, then that need is gonna be there. So you wanna look at your income and expenses and say how you’re not able to meet your expenses and the other side, their income and expenses, and see how they’ve got an abundance, they have extra money they should be ordered to pay spousal support. The court can balance those things out.
Now, as far as how long spousal support should be, the court has discretion on that. There’s some people that talk about the rule of thumb of one third the length of the marriage, but that is by no means a rule. The judge has a lot of discretion and as far as how long do you have to be married in order to get spousal support, you don’t have to be married any specific length of time. The longer the marriage, the more likely that the spousal support may be applicable, but the most important thing is those other factors. Need, ability to pay, the need’s tied to the marriage.
Get Legal Advice for Your Circumstances
So if you’re dealing with the circumstances in Oklahoma family courts related to spousal support or alimony, and you have questions about it, you’re probably gonna wanna talk to an attorney privately and confidentially to receive legal advice specific to your circumstances. To get that schedule with an attorney at my office, you go online to MakeLawEasy.com.