Sometimes, the outcome of divorce proceedings surprises the individuals requesting alimony and child support.

The only law that is nationwide is that the court must not consider gender at all when awarding alimony and child support.

With no firm laws in place, divorce agreements and case outcomes can differ drastically, leading to some unfair decisions.

The outcome of divorce agreements involving alimony requests is left up to the judge in family court, unless the couple agrees on the alimony and child support arrangements personally.

If set laws were put into effect, an individual would know what will entitle them to alimony payments and what will not.

As the economy has taken a turn for the worse, it has become more difficult for individuals to make permanent.

The main argument made by the alimony and divorce reform movement is that a divorce is supposed to eliminate the legal responsibility that husbands and wives have for each other.

If an individual is paying permanent alimony payments, they are never officially released from their responsibilities to their ex-spouse.

While child support payments end after a set number of years, permanent alimony payments are designed to grant financial support to one’s ex-spouse until the ex-spouse dies.

Even if the individual ordered to pay alimony payments dies, then their estate is usually legally bound to keep paying the alimony payments.

Most individuals fighting for alimony and divorce reform, support temporary or rehabilitative alimony payments. They consider permanent alimony payments to be an injustice to the one who has made payments. Other problems are beginning to arise as well.

With the financial problems that many individuals are facing right now, some ex-spouses are re-opening cases involving alimony payments that have been closed in court.

These ex-spouses are either requesting a restart of alimony payments or an increase in alimony payments. Individuals who may be suffering financially may now find themselves in the position of being forced to pay new or higher alimony payments.

The efforts by those involved with fighting for alimony and divorce reform have not gone unnoticed. Some states are making rules that limit the amount of time over which one is allowed to receive alimony payments.

As times change, more people are starting to think that alimony payments should not be permanent under most circumstances. Activists for alimony and divorce reform will argue that a spouse paying alimony payments indefinitely is unfair.

State alimony payments. Alimony reform activists alimony State divorce laws may be pretty clear on some things.

Issues of child custody and child visitation can get confusing, but for the most part, the standards are the same for each case.

Divorce itself can either be fault or no-fault, and there are set standards for that as well. Alimony is a different issue. The payments that are made to an individual’s ex-spouse are to help them maintain a lifestyle that they were accustomed to.

The court determines the amount of these payments and well as the length of time that an individual must pay them. Alimony laws are mostly open to interpretation.

A judge has the right to make the final decision on whom will receive alimony payments and who will not. Since different judges have different thoughts on the subject of alimony, there are a number of outcomes that can happen in any case.

While state divorce laws remain somewhat in tune with each other, a spouse will never know exactly what the outcome of an alimony lawsuit will be. Even prenuptial agreements made between couples before the marriage can be fought in court.

A modern divorce agreement may specify child support amounts as well as the division of property.

These things are still common financial issues to deal with in a divorce.

However, many people who divorce, especially those without children, expect to make a clean break when their marriage is done.

A lot of individuals feel that as long as a spouse is capable of working, the divorce agreement should not include any alimony payments.Many times, the courts will agree to this thought.

Modern divorcees are not awarded alimony payments in their divorce agreements as much as those in the past.

If they are awarded alimony payments, then they are more likely to be temporary, as a way of helping to get the dependent spouse back on their feet before the clean break is created.

Alimony reform organizations have sprung up in the last decade to argue against current alimony policies that dictate divorce settlements.

Alimony reform groups have several arguments for changing the alimony guidelines that exist today.

Arguments by those who pay alimony are based on the long-term financial strain inflicted on them.

Their request for alimony reform argues that paying permanent alimony to someone they are no longer legally bound or involved with, is unfair.

Alimony reform activists say that the permanent payments affect not only themselves but any future spouses or partners, as well as other family members.

While there are several circumstances that spouses can use to seek alimony modification after divorce settlements, remarriage by the payer is not usually one of them.

Permanent alimony is only awarded if a couple’s circumstances meet certain qualifications.

With this in mind, recipients of alimony in a divorce settlement argue that it is not fair for them to have to be thrown back into the workforce and expect to be financially comfortable, especially if they previously stayed at home to raise the couple’s children.

Alimony reform organizations especially have a problem with Massachusetts state alimony rules, which are considered to be very unfair to an alimony payer’s next spouse.

It is also argued that although alimony laws are not supposed to consider gender a factor when awarding alimony, women are favored in divorce settlements.

Many people believe individuals both for and against alimony reform have valid points when it comes to debating alimony policies. However, right now the policies remain unchanged