Court-Ordered Spousal Maintenance v. Contractual Alimony: Overview
December 1, 2011 Leave a Comment
The issue of whether spousal payments are court-ordered spousal maintenance or contractual alimony has come up again and again. Because this issue has a lot to it, I will outline some topics I hope to address and why the parties should care. This post will just serve as an outline.
The Topics:
- What is court-ordered spousal maintenance and what is contractual alimony;
- How to proceed when a spouse fails to pay court-ordered spousal maintenance and what relief is available;
- How to proceed when a spouse fails to pay contractual alimony and what relief is available; and
- How to tell the difference and which should you choose if you have the option.
Why Should a Party Care?
The parties should care about what these payments are classified as because the terms of enforcement/relief are different for each, the process for obtaining relief (how you plead the case) is different for each, one type of payment can be changed or eliminated while the other cannot, and finally, there are limits to each in terms of duration, amounts paid, and if it is even available.
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