There are different ways that alimony is determined. Here are a few of the options.
Prenuptial Agreement
If you and your spouse signed a prenup before getting married and that prenup addressed alimony, the agreement you made should determine what happens with support when you divorce. This is true as long as the prenuptial agreement is valid under the laws of your state.
Writing a prenuptial agreement can be a very smart choice. This allows you to make your own decisions about important divorce issues in advance. You can also opt out of default laws. For example, those who live in community property states could specify a preference for a different division of assets.
Having a prenuptial agreement can make it easier to get a cheap divorce as you will not have to fight over issues or have a court decide on key matters for you.
Postnuptial Agreement
This is similar to a prenuptial agreement but is entered into during the marriage. It could be created right after the wedding because you didn’t get around to signing a prenup or it could be created later in the marriage.
This is common if your financial circumstances change and you want to alter the terms of the prenup, or you don’t have one in place and want to determine how a sudden windfall or professional success will be handled if you divorce.
Settlement Agreement
When you and your spouse decide to divorce, you can create a divorce settlement on your own outside of court. If you do, you could pursue an uncontested divorce.
You’ll need to agree on things such as division of property, how to share custody, child support and alimony. If you come to a consensus, you don’t have to ask the court to litigate these issues so divorce should be faster, cheaper and less acrimonious.
There are some regional differences in the process of securing an uncontested divorce. However, in general, uncontested divorces can have better outcomes for couples who are able to decide what settlement terms make sense for their situation.
If you cannot come to an agreement on your own about the issues but want an uncontested divorce, you could consider mediation or arbitration to help you resolve your differences.
While you may be tempted to skip the lawyer if you hire a mediator and just file the paperwork with help from a service, this can be risky and you might prefer to have a legal advocate negotiating for you.
An attorney in your local area could provide invaluable assistance in coming to a fair settlement agreement that provides for the alimony and property arrangements you deserve.