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Alimony 101 for Nevada

by | Divorce, Spousal Support and Alimony

SPOUSAL SUPPORT AND ALIMONY

Contrary to popular belief spousal support and alimony are alive and well in Nevada.

Spousal support is financial support given by one spouse to the other while the parties are still married,  before a divorce, usually as part of a separate maintenance action (a.ka. legal separation).

Alimony is financial support given by one spouse to the other spouse after a divorce. Alimony payments are deductible to the payor and considered income to the payee by the IRS.

Alimony is separate from any property settlement. Since women have entered the workforce, alimony isn’t granted to them as often as it was in the past when a large number of women were stay-at-home moms or homemakers.

But, again, each situation is different. Even if a woman is employed, she might be entitled to some alimony for a period of time if her income is well below that of her spouse, or if she needs to study to get a degree or training of some sort to be able to support herself. This can go both ways. If Wife has been making considerably more money than Husband, she might have to pay him spousal support, or alimony.  

If the marriage was short-term, but a spouse will suffer unduly because of a big difference in income between the parties, a judge might well grant short-term alimony to allow that spouse time to figure out how to increase his or her income. 

If one of the spouses needs to be trained, or retrained, in a career, rehabilitative alimony might be granted. If you have to pay this, it would be wise to set a termination date on it to keep the party receiving the rehabilitative alimony from stretching the training for longer than necessary. 

WHEN DOES A JUDGE CONSIDER GRANTING ALIMONY?

  • when there is a disparity in income between the parties
  • when the couple has been married or in a domestic partnership for a long period of time
  • when a spouse needs financial support because of a health issue
  • when a spouse needs retraining to get back into the workforce

Other considerations under NRS 125.150 (Nevada law on alimony) include:

  • the standard of living to which the couple was accustomed
  • the career of both spouses before the marriage
  • whether one spouse has advanced the other spouse’s career
  • age and education of the parties
  • the ability to pay of the spouse who will be paying alimony

Note that Nevada is a “no fault” state,  so bad acts (such as cheating on a spouse) that do not cause economic harm or “community waste” are not grounds for temporary spousal support or alimony. If you need support right away when you file for divorce, you can file a motion with Family Court for temporary spousal support. This will get you a hearing in front of the judge sooner.

In Nevada, a judge has a lot of discretion in deciding whether to grant alimony or not, as well as how much and for how long:

  • If it’s a marriage of less than 3 years, alimony is unlikely though not impossible.
  • If the marriage is from 3 to 20 years, alimony could be granted for as many years as half of the length of the marriage,  e.g, if married for 10 years, alimony is paid for five years.
  • If the marriage was longer than 20 years then permanent alimony is highly possible, and even likely.

You can read a summary of the statutes here.

If you prefer, you can read the entire divorce statutes, NRS Chapter 125,  on the Nevada Statutes website

WHEN DOES ALIMONY CEASE?

By law (in Nevada), alimony stops when the spouse receiving alimony either passes away or remarries.

You can modify alimony if there is an increase or decrease of 20% of more in the paying party’s income.  This is considered a change of circumstances. However, the Court will look to see if the payor is under-employing or un-employing himself to avoid paying an amount he or she does not wish to pay. A motion for change must be made in good faith, such as a lack of employment opportunities or a change in health making it impossible to continue paying the same amount due to loss of income because of it.  A request to modify alimony must be made in good faith.

Parties also have the option to stipulate to non-modifiable alimony which would preclude a modification motion. An option to monthly alimony payments is a lump sum non-modifiable alimony.  In fact, with much older couples the Court will often consider lump sum alimony instead of periodic payments simply to avoid the payee becoming suddenly destitute because of the untimely death of the payor.

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The Who Pays and How Much of Spousal Support or Alimony in Nevada

by | Spousal Support and Alimony

You’re about to get a divorce or legal separation and wonder about alimony in Nevada, or spousal support.

You’ve been married a few years and your spouse earns somewhat less than you, or stayed at home to raise your children or because you didn’t need two incomes.

Now that you are getting a divorce or legal separation, you wonder if you’ll have to pay or alimony spousal support. For the sake of clarification, know that spousal support is what is paid as part of a legal separation, and alimony is what is paid as a result of a divorce.

Nevada Statutes list only things a judge will take under consideration when deciding whether or not to grant spousal support or alimony in Nevada. There is no actual, “set in stone” table to follow based on income like we have for child support.

Below is a partial list of things the judge will look at when deciding whether or not to grant spousal support or alimony. Each and every situation is different, so some of these may or may not matter, and other things in addition, or instead of, these might come into play:

  • The financial condition of each spouse
  • The nature and value of the respective property of each spouse
  • The contribution of each spouse to any property held by the spouses pursuant to NRS 123.030
  • The duration of the marriage
  • The income, earning capacity, age and health of each spouse
  • The standard of living during the marriage
  • The career before the marriage of the spouse who would receive the alimony
  • The existence of specialized education or training or the level of marketable skills attained by each spouse during the marriage
  • The contribution of either spouse as homemaker
  • The physical and mental condition of each party as it relates to the financial condition, health and ability to work of that spouse

In some cases, in lieu of, or in addition to, spousal support or alimony in Nevada, the court might grant support  to a spouse for the purpose of obtaining training or education in order to attain new employment, or better employment.

  • Whether the spouse who would pay has obtained greater job skills or education during the marriage
  • Whether the spouse who would receive alimony provided financial support while the other spouse obtained job skills or education
  • Whether the spouse who would receive alimony would be in severe financial straits after the divorce without further job training

Should alimony be granted for the purposes of education or training, more often than not, the judge will also order that the spouse receiving it start the training within a specified amount of time after the granting of the alimony. And more often than not, there is a reasonable time limit placed on it, usually for the length of time it takes the spouse to train or retrain.