Divorcio

Alimony, also called maintenance or spousal support, is financial support paid by or to your spouse and can be awarded as part of a divorce. The judge can award you reimbursement alimony or term alimony.

The purpose of term alimony is to allow both parties to maintain a reasonable standard of living. If the parties don’t agree, the judge can order term alimony only if s/he finds that:

1. you lack sufficient income, property, or both to take care of your needs, considering your lifestyle during the marriage and the fact that each spouse will have to adjust their standards of living based maintaining separate households;
2. you cannot support yourself in an appropriate job or you care for a child whose circumstances limits the hours you can work or makes you unable to work outside of the home; and
3. the person paying alimony can meet his/her reasonable needs while also meeting your needs, considering your standard of living during the marriage and the fact that each spouse will have to adjust their standards of living based maintaining separate households.¹

The purpose of reimbursement alimony is to compensate you for your economic or non-economic contributions to the financial resources of your spouse, such as supporting his/her education or job training, or making an investment of time or money. However, generally reimbursement alimony is only ordered if you were not adequately compensated through the division of of marital property, which includes retirement benefits, savings accounts, etc.²

¹ N.H. Rev. Stat § 458:19-a(I)
² N.H. Rev. Stat § 458:19-a(V); 458:16-a(I)