Does the Length of a Marriage Affect the Divorce Settlement?
Whether you’ve been married for six months or 30 years, a divorce is likely to cause a considerable amount of emotional pain. You planned to spend your life with someone, and now those plans will have to change. While divorce is exceedingly difficult regardless of how long you were married, did you know that the duration of your marriage will likely have an effect on your divorce settlement? It’s true—the length of your marriage can affect issues like alimony and the division of assets.
Alimony
When determining whether to award alimony and how much to award, courts consider a number of factors, including the duration of the marriage. Although there are always exceptions to the rule, courts are generally more likely to award alimony for longer periods of time the longer a marriage has lasted. That’s because the longer a couple is married, the harder it will be for the lesser-earning spouse to support him- or herself and maintain the same lifestyle that he or she became accustomed to while married.
Division of Assets
Florida is an equitable distribution state, and courts thus attempt to divide marital assets between spouses as fairly as possible, even if the division doesn’t result in an exact 50-50 split. Again, while this may not always be the case, courts tend to divide assets less evenly the longer a marriage lasts, since each spouse’s role and contributions become clearer the longer they’re married (if the husband runs a business and the wife takes care of the house, for instance, the court might be more likely to award the business to the husband and the house to the wife). The division of assets also tends to be more complicated in longer marriages since the spouses are more likely to own more assets and to have intermingled their finances.
Family Law Attorneys Representing Clients in the Tampa Bay Area
If you need legal assistance with a divorce, you can rely on the skilled attorneys at the Law Offices of Audrey A. Jefferis, P.A. We’re based in New Port Richey and we’re pleased to work with clients across Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Hernando Counties. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.