Alimony in New Hampshire

Alimony is defined as one or more payments made to, or for the benefit of, a spouse or ex-spouse under New Hampshire law. In layman’s terms, alimony is a monetary payment made by one spouse to the other during and/or after a divorce. An agreement between the spouses and/or court order can be used to accomplish this.

Judges have traditionally granted alimony (also known as maintenance or spousal support) to stay-at-home spouses in long-term marriages. Times have changed, and today either partner, regardless of gender, can ask for help. However, the court will only provide it to you if you follow the state’s rules. This article will explain to you about alimony in New Hampshire.

Spousal Support In NH

In alimony in New Hampshire, judges can order temporary, periodic (short-term), reimbursement, or permanent alimony. Separate from temporary child support payments, temporary alimony is given to couples who require financial assistance throughout the divorce process to fund living expenses.

The majority of post-divorce alimony awards are rehabilitative in nature, meaning they are only for a limited time. The law assumes that both spouses are capable of becoming financially independent, but it also recognizes that some spouses may need to return to school or obtain professional training in order to acquire an independent source of income once the marriage ends.

When one spouse financially supports the other’s education or employment throughout the marriage, reimbursement alimony is reasonable. New Hampshire law allows judges to give one or more payments to a spouse to compensate them for their efforts during the marriage.

Permanent alimony awards are rare, and courts usually save them for long-term marriages in which one spouse is unable to support themselves owing to a long period of unemployment, senior age, or disability.

Qualifying for Spousal Support

To be eligible for alimony, you must first request it during your divorce. Once you’ve done that, the court must determine if you require financial assistance. Alimony is permitted in New Hampshire if the following conditions are met:

• In light of the spouse’s marital lifestyle, the asking spouse lacks adequate income, property, or both to be financially independent.
• While paying alimony, the paying spouse can remain self-sufficient and maintain the marital level of living.
• The beneficiary is unable to support themselves through work that satisfies their reasonable needs or is the custodial parent of a child whose needs prevent the parent from working outside the home.

Once the court concludes that you require assistance, it will calculate the length and amount of alimony owed to you based on the length of your marriage and a number of other factors, including:

• The ages and health of both couples
• The social and economic standings of the spouses
• The occupations of each spouse, as well as their earnings and sources of money (including marital property)
• Employability and vocational skills
• Liabilities and requirements
• Contributions to the marriage, both monetary and nonmonetary
• Possibilities for future asset and income acquisition
• Alimony has tax implications.

Adultery, abandonment, impotence, extreme cruelty, felony conviction, abuse, or frequent drunkenness—the fault grounds for divorce in New Hampshire—may be considered by the court. The court may grant you alimony if your spouse engaged in marital misconduct, leading you to lose your job, or if your spouse spent marital assets on an affair.

Duration Of Alimony In New Hampshire

The court can award alimony for a set amount of time or for an infinite amount of time. The majority of orders are temporary, lasting only long enough for the sponsored spouse to become financially self-sufficient.

Temporary alimony stops when the divorce is finalized by the judge, while rehabilitative assistance lasts until the court orders it to end or until a certain event occurs. If you’re receiving short-term rehabilitative assistance, for example, the judge may set an end date for the day you finish your studies.

The duration of alimony might also be agreed upon by the spouses. If you are unable to reach an agreement, the judge will make the decision for you. Support stops when the paying spouse achieves full retirement age (or retires, whichever comes first) when either spouse dies or if the supported spouse remarries or cohabitates unless the court decrees otherwise.

If alimony is terminated by the court due to remarriage or cohabitation, the court may reinstate the original alimony order if the marriage or cohabitation ends within 5 years of the termination.

Alimony Payment In NH

The majority of alimony awards are for a certain amount of time, and the paying spouse usually pays monthly. With the support order, the court will normally include an income withholding order, instructing the paying spouse’s employer to withhold alimony payments and transmit them to the receiver. The court may also impose lump-sum payments, which can be made in one payment or overtime.

Failure to pay alimony may result in a contempt charge from the court, which carries consequences including fines, attorney fees, and possibly jail time. If you aren’t receiving your alimony payments, you can file a request with the court asking for assistance in enforcing the order.

Modifying Alimony Awards

Unless the court orders differently or the spouses agree, either spouse can request an alimony modification at any time. The petitioning spouse must show that there has been a significant and unforeseen change in circumstances since the last decision, that neither spouse is suffering undue hardship, and that justice warrants a change in the amount or length of alimony. If you are paying child support and lose your work involuntarily, the court may alter the order to reflect your new income.

Taxes and NH divorce laws alimony

Alimony in New Hampshire is not tax-deductible for the paying spouse or reportable income for the recipient in divorces finalized on or after January 1, 2019. In the past, the paying spouse could deduct alimony payments while the recipient had to record the payments as income and pay taxes. To understand how alimony affects your taxes, you should speak with a competent attorney.

Faqs