Suffolk County Alimony/Maintenance Lawyers

Protecting Your Interests During a Divorce

Coping with the Break-Up

The break-up of your marriage is not something you anticipated. A range of emotions may be coursing through your mind and body as you try to cope with the development. This is only natural. However, you cannot allow your feelings for what is happening to you distract you from taking action to protect your own interests. This must be your primary focus. A range of issues will need to be sorted out during the actual proceeding. Your first priority for the moment should be to ensure that you have some measure of material security. To know that you will not be forced into penury and degradation must be your primary concern.

Seeking Legal Counsel

To prepare yourself for the coming fight you must retain legal counsel. It is important to hire the right kind of divorce lawyer to handle your case. And the first action that you should instruct them to take is to file a motion for temporary maintenance.

Temporary Maintenance

You and your spouse may have decided before the two of you even married that you would not work and that they would. The fact that you have kept to this agreement and dedicated all of your energies, efforts, talents, and time to the upkeep of you joint household now puts you at a disadvantage. It does so because you are completely dependent on the person who is about to break from you and start their own life.

New York State offers a reasonable relief for people in this situation. Temporary maintenance lasts for the duration of the divorce proceeding. Such motions are usually granted by the presiding judge, especially for individuals in your situation. You should expect 30% of your partner’s income if they are a high earner and 20% if they do not earn as much.

Securing Permanent Maintenance

The next big fight on this front will be securing a permanent maintenance or alimony agreement. The law is not so simple on this point; nor should you expect an automatic approval of what you ask for. You will need to present a clear and compelling case for why you should get the maintenance allowance you are asking for.

Judges consider a range of factors when deciding on the amount of maintenance and the length of time it should be provided. Your partner’s lawyers will be working continually on the case for why you should be denied the amount you request. It is important to have a competent, sharp, and aggressive legal mind on your side—one that is able to drive the point home to the judge.

Consider Mediation

In some instances, you may be able to sit down with your soon-to-be ex-spouse and work out a deal in a calm and rational way. If you know that you are dealing with a fair-minded person who doesn’t want to be married to you but doesn’t want you to suffer either, then you might be able to avoid a big fight over maintenance and go through a process of mediation instead.

This is good if you can make it happen. But you must be realistic. If you know that you are not dealing with that kind of person, then it is vital that you gear up for the battle ahead. Trying to maximize the amount of maintenance you receive is not even next door to being greedy. Your long period of absence from the workplace makes getting a job that will pay adequately a very difficult task. It is probably impossible for you to accomplish it straightaway. You will need some time to adjust to your new life, and a maintenance order is just the thing that can give you the time you require.