Alimony is a settlement agreement ordered by the court where a spouse has to pay some money to the other for a period after the divorce. It is paid by the spouse who is able to pay the other spouse in need of support. Only those who are divorced or divorcing can ask for and receive money.
Either your spouse or you, or both, can ask for alimony at the time of divorce. Suppose the original divorce did not mention any alimony at all. In that case, you could file a complaint about alimony with the help of a Wisconsin alimony attorney at any time after your divorce.
Different types of alimony
There are different types of alimony mentioned below.
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Rehabilitation alimony
In this alimony, support is paid to an ex-spouse regularly who is expected to support themselves within a period.
In rehabilitation alimony, the court uses it for a fixed period, and after that, it is subjected to review. Court approves rehabilitation alimony when a divorcing spouse wants to continue their education so that he or she can support themselves after a divorce. Rehabilitation alimony often ends when the spouse gets employed at their full potential.
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Permanent alimony
In this alimony, support is paid to the spouse until the payor’s death. The alimony can stop if the beneficiary dies or if the recipient remarriage.
Court usually approves rehabilitation alimony when the marriage of the couple was of long duration; usually, ten years or more, and the other spouse has little to no hope of entering in job field. The Reducing or increase of the alimony can occur if there are substantial changes in the payor’s income.
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Reimbursement alimony
In reimbursement alimony, support is paid regularly or once after the marriage with no more than five years to repay the costs their ex-spouse paid to help the paying spouse, for example, paying the spouse for completing the education or any job training.
For example, if a nurse gets married to a medical student who supports both while the medical student finishes the degree program and then divorces. The nurse will be entitled to receive alimony to compensate for the money she helped for during the medical training program if they divorce right after graduating from medical school.
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General term alimony
General term alimony is paid regularly to an ex-spouse who is dependent on the spouse financially. The length of paying the alimony depends upon the length of the marriage.
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Temporary alimony
It is a support order when the parties get separated before the divorce. It is also called alimony pendente lite, which means “pending the suit.”
For example, a mother with few less marketable work skills may ask for alimony because she needs more training and lacks the necessary skills to enter the workplace.