Alimony Calculations Change with New York State Law
by
Joseph C. Maya on Jun. 30, 2017
Divorce & Family Law Divorce Divorce & Family Law
Summary: A blog post about alimony in New York state and changes being made to the way the courts do the calculations to determine how much a spouse will be awarded.
If you have questions about divorce, legal separation, alimony entitlement, or alimony in Connecticut, please feel free to call the experienced divorce attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport today at 203-221-3100 or email Joseph C. Maya, Esq. at JMaya@Mayalaw.com.
New York may soon have a new alimony law in effect. A state bill addressing alimony calculations has already passed the legislature and is now awaiting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signature.
One of the major components of the new law is a formula to calculate post-divorce alimony. As it stands, New York alimony guidelines only refer to temporary support orders and do not address long-term support. The new bill will preserve the existing maintenance guidelines while extending them to include post-divorce alimony.
The law will help determine the duration of a payor’s alimony obligation based on the length of the marriage. The new law says that alimony duration should increase proportionately to the number of years married, but in accordance with a tiered system that provides judges with a fair amount of discretion in making the final decision.
According to the bill’s advisory guidelines, marriages of 15 years of less should result in an alimony duration that is 15-30% of the marriage length; marriages of 15-20 years should provide alimony for 30-40% of the marriage length; and the breakup of any marriage lasting more than 20 years should involve an alimony obligation that lasts 35-50% of the length of the marriage.
In addition to encouraging long-term spousal support, the new legislation also lowers the income cap that is used to determine the amount of a support award. The formula will now apply to parties with income of up to $175,000 rather than the current income cap of $543,000. However, New York judges will retain the ability to adjust alimony for a particular case if they deem necessary.
For a free consultation, please do not hesitate to call the experienced family law and divorce attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport, CT at 203-221-3100. We may also be reached for inquiries by email at JMaya@mayalaw.com.
Source: DivorceMagazine
