Most of us are unfortunately familiar with common divorce terminology. Even if you’ve never been through a divorce, chances are a family member, friend, or someone at work has. Because of that, just about everyone knows the basic lingo. What’s less familiar is the concept of palimony. Below is a summary of what palimony is and when it’s applied, as well as why you need an aggressive divorce lawyer in San Antonio, Texas, even if you’re technically not married, but going through a separation.
What Is Palimony?
Beginning in the 1960s, a trend of individuals cohabiting without formally getting married commenced and has increased almost every year since. Much like a legal marriage, however, sometimes a couple in a relationship who are cohabiting break up. When that happens, there is a question of whether a partner who would otherwise be entitled to spousal support should be entitled to support even though they were not formally married. This issue becomes particularly pertinent when a cohabiting couple has intertwined their lives to an extent that closely resembles a marriage.
Basic Questions
There are two basic questions that must be answered during a divorce lawyer consultation, in any court proceeding, and by an aggressive divorce attorney as it pertains to palimony. The first is whether one or the other partner is entitled to financial support. The second, much like a formal divorce, is how much that person is entitled to receive.
Cultural Ramifications
The rise of cohabitation without marriage has created a need to have a system of palimony in place. The logic behind justifying palimony is the same as is argued by a divorce attorney in any formal, legal divorce proceeding. It’s very important to understand that, in almost every jurisdiction, palimony legally is not the same as spousal support; this was determined by the United States Supreme Court. That decision obviously affects palimony determination from eligibility all the way to the amount owed.
Who Qualifies
the criteria to receive palimony is exceptionally complex and often confusing because there are really no clear laws that identify eligibility, nor that identify amount and frequency. Because the majority of jurisdictions don’t have the formula to determine palimony much of the decision process is left to the discretion of the presiding judge. The basic guidelines the justice must consider are: how long the parties lived together, whether one provided significantly more financial support, what assets were jointly held, whether one party provided valuable services to the other, and whether there are any overriding verbal or written agreements pertaining to property ownership and support.
Cohabitation, as it has become more popular, has opened a number of questions regarding spousal support. Palimony is still working itself out as a legal concept, but an aggressive divorce lawyer in San Antonio, Texas will be able to prove its applicability fairly easily.