Birmingham Divorce Lawyer & Attorney : Eversole Law Firm : Serving Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile Alabama

In Alabama, when a divorce has been granted in favor of one party based upon the misconduct of the other party, the judge may grant awards from the estate of the spouse committing the misconduct to the other spouse.  The misconduct itself may also be used by the judge in determining the amount of the award.  However, this provision is subject to the marital property rule and/or the inheritance rule.  In general, property held by a party prior to the marriage, or property received by inheritance or gift,  is not marital property and cannot be distributed to the other party during a divorce.  Alabama Code Section 30-2-52 defines how a judge may award property after granting a divorce based upon misconduct.   

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The purpose of Alimony in Alabama is to preserve, as much as is possible, the economic living condition of the parties as they existed during the marriage. There is a duty to maintain the status of their ex-spouse until such time as the spouse is self-supporting or maintaining a similar status to the one enjoyed before the separation.

The two most important factors to be considered in determining alimony payments are:

1. The need of the spouse receiving alimony.
2. The ability to pay by the spouse paying alimony.

However, there is a laundry list of factors that courts do take into consideration:

• Standard of living during the marriage
• Age and gender of each party
• Length of the Marriage
• Bad conduct by a party that caused the divorce(adultery)
• Health of each party
• Potential for maintaining their standard of living without spouse

Alimony can result from long and short term marriages as well.

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