Divorce Alimony

Divorce brings about untold misery and suffering not merely to the couple involved in the institution of a marriage but to all those who are involved through the institution, that is, especially the children. However the modern distractions are so many that even without thinking twice, in modern times, the partners are willing to call it quits and go for a divorce. A number of reasons have been cited for this recent havoc, the first being the lack of quality on the part of the spouses to devote to each other or for the other issues at home, as a result of which it is seen that many families are torn apart. The second cause has been suggested to be the independent attitude that the women of the modern world don, which makes them literally believe that they are in no way inferior or less than the other sex, and which also has made them ignore the need of the man in their lives. Women, these days feel and know that with all of their financial independence they are in a position to take care of their needs of daily life, as well as look after the requirements of the children, without actually depending on their better halves for any financial assistance, a fact which cannot be denied to some extent. However, what most of the divorcing partners fail to realize is the need of both the parents in the growing years of the children. But once agreed for a divorce, at times it is found that one of the partners is not in a financial position to take care of his or her daily needs of life, and in this case it is mandatory, according to the rules of divorce in most of the states, that the financially independent partner hands over a sum of money in the form of divorce alimony to the other person. Hence, Divorce Alimony is the money disbursed by the higher income spouse to the lower income spouse post divorce. It is also called as "maintenance" or "spousal support" in a few of the states in the United States of America or in a few of the nations throughout the world.

IRC (Internal Revenue Code) 71 has set down several requirements regarding spousal support that must be satisfied. These are as follows.

• If the couple seeking divorce files a joint tax return for a particular year, the spouses cannot claim spousal support for that year.
• If the recipient spouse dies, the payments must be terminated.
• If the spouses are staying in the same residence, spousal support cannot be disbursed. This includes residing in different wings, different bedrooms and separate quarters in the same residence. It is mandatory to live in separate houses having separate roofs.
• The divorce alimony payments must be mentioned in the divorce or written agreement. Thus, if one partner has been paying informal support for the previous few months, he/she cannot claim that he/she has been disbursing spousal support for that period.
• The payments have to be in the form of cash. However, checks or money orders are also accepted. On the other hand debts, property or services are not.

A couple intends to get divorced as they don't wish any ties with each other. However, divorce spousal support can keep the spouses tied with each other for the entire life. It has been observed that although the divorce is amicable, the issue of spousal support ignites the relation.