Alimony: Factors Influencing the Amount and Duration of Alimony

When a couple is married, they have a moral and legal obligation to support one another. this doesn’t necessarily have to end with divorce though. As per the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, a person’s right of maintenance would extend to any person who is economically dependent on his/her marriage. It includes, therefore, husband and wife both, as well as dependent children and indigent parents too.

The alimony claim of either spouse, however, would depend on the other spouse having the sufficient means to provide such alimony. While deciding on the payment for alimony, the divorce lawyers in Delhi suggests, the court would be taking into account and consider the spouse’soverall earning potential, as well as his/her ability to regenerate his/her fortune and clear his/her liabilities.

In case of contested divorces, the alimony and its tenure and amount depend mostly on how long the marriage lasted. A divorce that took place after a decade of being married to that person would entitle his/her spouse to receive a lifelong alimony. The law firms in Delhi lists these essential factors that determine the amount and tenure of alimony:

• Age of the dependent spouse (i.e. the person who would be receiving the alimony)
• The health condition of both the spouses (medical condition or failing health of the spouse that would be receiving the alimony might act in his/her favor. They might be able to claim a larger amount of alimony on basis of his/her failing health).
• Economic condition or overall earnings of the spouse who would be providing the alimony.