Divorce

Alimony, also called maintenance or spousal support, is financial support paid by or to your spouse and can be awarded as part of a divorce. The judge can award you reimbursement alimony or term alimony.

The purpose of term alimony is to allow both parties to maintain a reasonable standard of living. If the parties don’t agree, the judge can order term alimony only if s/he finds that:

1. you lack sufficient income, property, or both to take care of your needs, considering your lifestyle during the marriage and the fact that each spouse will have to adjust their standards of living based maintaining separate households;
2. you cannot support yourself in an appropriate job or you care for a child whose circumstances limits the hours you can work or makes you unable to work outside of the home; and
3. the person paying alimony can meet his/her reasonable needs while also meeting your needs, considering your standard of living during the marriage and the fact that each spouse will have to adjust their standards of living based maintaining separate households.¹

The purpose of reimbursement alimony is to compensate you for your economic or non-economic contributions to the financial resources of your spouse, such as supporting his/her education or job training, or making an investment of time or money. However, generally reimbursement alimony is only ordered if you were not adequately compensated through the division of of marital property, which includes retirement benefits, savings accounts, etc.²

¹ N.H. Rev. Stat § 458:19-a(I)
² N.H. Rev. Stat § 458:19-a(V); 458:16-a(I)

To decide the amount of term alimony, the judge will generally take the following steps:

1. The judge will use a mathematical formula, which is based on 30 percent of the difference between the parties’ gross incomes at the time the order is created, to come up with an amount.
2. The judge will look at the “reasonable need” of the person receiving alimony and come up with an amount.
3. The judge will order the lesser of the two amounts.¹

However, if you can prove to the judge that you should get more alimony than what the mathematical formula comes up with, and the judge believes that such an adjustment must be made to achieve justice, the judge can:

• adjust the formula amounts to increase the amount of alimony; and/or
• lengthen the period of time that alimony is paid so that is lasts for longer than half the length of the marriage.²

Special circumstances that can justify an adjustment include, but are not limited to, the following:

• health, including disability, chronic or severe mental or physical illness, or other unusual health circumstances of either party;
• the amount of any financial dependency of one party on the other and the length of time of this dependency;
• vocational skills, occupation, benefits available from employment, and the present and future employability of both parties;
• voluntary unemployment or underemployment of either party;
• any special needs of a minor or adult child of the parties;
• property awarded as part of the divorce;
• the behavior of either party during the marriage, including:
  • abuse (as defined by law); or
  • marital fault (as defined by law), but only if that fault:
    1. caused the breakdown of the marriage; and
    2. either:
       • caused substantial physical or mental pain and suffering; or
       • resulted in substantial economic loss to the marital estate or the injured party;
• differences in the parties’ benefits under the federal Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Social Security program;
• lessening of significant assets by a party, coupled with a lack of sufficient assets from which property can be equitably divided or recouped;
• any other reason the court deems material and relevant.²

¹ N.H. Rev. Stat § 458:19-a(II)
² N.H. Rev. Stat § 458:19-a(III), (IV)