Tuesday, April 15, 2014

NORTH CAROLINA Part 66

4.      What do we need to do to get alimony?

Where Did “Alimony” Come From?

In a divorce proceeding, the court usually considers five major issues: grounds for divorce, property division, custody/visitation, child support, and alimony. Long ago, there was no such thing as a “no-fault” divorce, property division was based on title (who owned the property on paper), custody of children almost always went to the mother, child support was based on the bread-winner/husband’s ability to pay, and alimony was to provide the innocent wife with lifelong support, since women did not work. Today’s world is very different: Parties can divorce without fault, property division is based on “equitable factors” and title doesn’t matter, custody doesn’t always go to the mother, child support is based on “guidelines,” and women work. Necessarily, the law of alimony has changed drastically over the last fifty years.

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