| Spousal support, commonly called alimony, is money paid by one spouse to the other. In Oregon, spousal support is classified in three categories: transitional support, compensatory support, and spousal maintenance. A judge may award spousal support based on one or more of these classifications.
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The three different types of spousal support available in Oregon are:
Transitional support: The judge looks at what support is needed to assist the spouse in re-entering the work force. Funds can be used for education or training.
Compensatory support: The judge determines an amount of support that compensates one spouse for supporting or contributing to the other's education, career, or earning ability.
Spousal maintenance: The judge considers what support is appropriate to keep a standard of living similar to what was enjoyed in the marriage.
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| Typically spousal support must be requested in the initial pleadings before a judge will consider awarding it however Oregon Case law says it does not have to be requested to be awarded so it is important to find out early if this will be an issue. There are many factors that a court looks at in assessing each claim and those are listed in the Oregon revised statutes. Typically, the factors that are most significant in spousal maintenance support are the length of marriage, the age of the parties and the disparities in their incomes.
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| Depending upon which kind of support is awarded support can be awarded for a set period of years or indefinitely which really means until a court changes the Judgment. Even indefinite support normally terminates upon the death of the paying spouse and that is why good lawyers make sure there is a requirement of life insurance to make up for the lack of support after death. Compensatory support is very hard to modify and there is a specific statute covering that.
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| Not unless the parties agreed to such a provision in their settlement. A judge cannot impose such a provision in a divorce Judgment unless remarriage is imminent at the time of divorce. On the other hand, remarriage is something that a judge can consider if there is a request to modify or terminate the spousal support award. Depending on the facts and the purpose of the original support award, remarriage may result in a modification.
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| If support is terminated early, it can be restored later if the Supplemental Judgment of Modification states the reason for the termination and that reason no longer exists (i.e. support was terminated because you remarried someone who earns $200,000 per year and then you got divorced from that person). One caveat is that the court cannot restore it if the original period of support has expired. Unless spousal support was ordered in your original divorce judgment the court has no power to later award it.
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| Normally the party receiving spousal support is taxed on those payments as regular income and the party making the support payments can deduct these payments from their income taxes. There are some unusual rules regarding large or uneven payments so be sure to check with your accountant.
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| To date, no Oregon court has awarded support to an unmarried party. There is no statute that bars it but the rights of unmarried partners in all non-child related matters are limited to interpretations of contract law. Unless a party can prove a contractual right to support (i.e. by a written agreement), there is little likelihood it could be awarded. Normally, the only form of support that a court would order in the case of an unmarried couple is support for a joint child.
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| ORS 107.135(6) allows for modification of spousal support to be retroactive to the date of service of the legal papers. It is discretionary to pick any date between filing or “...any date thereafter.”
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| If a party has not tried to become self-supporting within 10 years of the divorce the court can terminate the support. This law does not apply if the person receiving support is 60 at the time of hearing.
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| Compensatory SUPPORT cannot be modified unless there is an involuntary, extraordinary and unanticipated change in circumstances that reduces the earning capacity of the paying spouse.
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| If the the modification is opposed and the sole basis is a voluntary retirement or self-imposed curtailment of earning capacity, then it must be denied if it is shown that the change was “not taken in good faith” but was for the “primary purpose of avoiding the support obligation.”
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