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Setting Up a Spousal Support Agreement After Separation

When you separate from your spouse, you can come to your own agreement about financial support. If the court deems it reasonable and in line with the law, it will sign off on that agreement. Working with an experienced Reno, NV divorce lawyer is important, however, to ensure that your agreement does meet all requirements and is in your best interests.

How Your Reno, NV Divorce Lawyer Will Help You Put Together an Agreement

When you already agree on whether support will be paid, in what amount, and for how long, you can file a joint petition for separate maintenance that also settles your property and debts and, if you have children, custody and child support issues.

Factors the Court Looks At

The factors a Nevada court must consider when it awards alimony give you a useful checklist to ensure your agreement is fair and will meet all requirements. Judges consider:
  • Each spouse's financial condition
  • The nature and value of property each of you hold separately 
  • Contributions to shared property during the marriage
  • Duration of the marriage
  • Income and earning capacity of both parties
  • Age and health of both parties
  • The standard of living during the marriage
  • Homemaker contributions
Your lawyer will help you think through all these factors and how they apply in your situation, then come up with an agreement the court is likely to consider fair given your situation.

How to Get Specific

A good agreement sets out the payment amount in dollars, specifies the day it is due and the method of payment, clarifies what events bring an end to the obligation (whether that's a fixed date, remarriage, death of either party, or another defined event), and says whether the amount may be modified under certain circumstances and, if so, by what process.

Child Support

It's typically best to keep child support separate from spousal support discussions, because child support follows its own guidelines and is something that's owed to the child, not to the other parent. Mixing the two streams in a single undesignated payment can create confusion.

When You Can't Agree

If you cannot reach a complete agreement, one of you will need to file a complaint for separate maintenance and ask the court to set support after notice. The court will then decide based on what it believes is fair given the precise circumstances of your marriage. The court will strive to be fair, but, in the end, many couples find that working something out on their own is better.

When you each have your own lawyer, you have someone who is on your side, dedicated to ensuring that every agreement is in your best interests, but who is also dispassionate about the emotions and history of the marriage. Your lawyer will help you think things through, be a buffer between you and your spouse, and help you brainstorm compromises.

Helping you hammer out a spousal support agreement is just one small part of what we do for our clients. Contact the Barber Law Group now in Reno, where we're always willing to take on the hardest and most complicated cases.

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