You know that you’re going to need spousal support, or alimony, after the divorce. When you and your spouse got married, you had to quit your job to move to be near them and to raise the children. It’s now been 15 years and you haven’t worked at all.
Once you get divorced, you’re sure that you’re not just going to be able to jump right back into the workforce and pick up where you left off. Perhaps the industry has changed too much to make it possible. Either way, you’re going to need some support, and it’s probably going to need to last for years.
Most people get spousal support as a monthly payment. But you may be interested in asking for a lump sum, which will all be paid at the time of the divorce. Why would you do this?
It can make your future less complicated
There are some major advantages to getting a lump sum, starting with the fact that it can simplify your future. You don’t have to be in close communication with your ex. You don’t have to contact them if they fail to pay on time. You just get all of your money and you put the relationship behind you.
This can also reduce some of your concern about future changes for your ex. If they’re ordered to pay alimony for 10 years, what happens if they lose their job five years from now? What if they just get a job that doesn’t pay as much, so they need to have the alimony payments modified? There can be a lot of different problems in the future, but a lump sum payment helps you avoid all of these. Even if your ex’s employment status changes in the future, you already have the spousal support in hand.
This is just one part of your financial picture
Spousal support is just a single part of the financial picture that has to be considered if you get a divorce. You also need to think about all of the assets that the two of you owned as a couple, retirement assets that you may have saved up together and much more.
As you go through every step in this process, be sure that you’re well aware of your legal rights. It can be much more complicated to rectify things after the fact, so you want to get it right the first time around.