Family Law

San Francisco Divorce Attorney Discusses Spousal Support

By Scott Sagaria

San Francisco Divorce Attorney Discusses Spousal Support

Spousal support can be granted based on a number of issues in order to keep the marital standard of living for the spouse needing the support. However, contrary to what people believer, spousal support can be terminated before the the receiving spouse gets re-married. If the receiving spouse starts living with their boyfriend of girlfriend but remain unmarried, the receiving spouse's support can be terminated. Family Code 4323 (a) (1) states "Except as otherwise agreed to by the parties in writing, there is a rebuttable presumption, affecting the burden of proof, of decreased need for spousal support if the supported party is cohabiting with a person of the opposite sex. Upon a determination that circumstances have changed, the court may modify or terminate the spousal support as provided for in Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 3650) of Part 1. (2) Holding oneself out to be the husband or wife of the person with whom one is cohabiting is not necessary to constitute cohabitation as the term is used in this subdivision." This means that by just moving in with a new boyfriend or girlfriend creates a rebuttable presumtion that the receiving party is being supported by their new significant other. It is up to the receiving spouse to prove otherwise.

Cohabitation, however, is very hard to prove. Boyfriends and girlfriends spend time at each others homes without necessarily cohabitating with each other. More often than not, boyfriends and girlfriends will even the spend the night at each others homes without cohabitating with one another. This means that even if a person spends almost every night at their significant other's home does not necessarily consitute cohabitation. Therefore, if you are looking to prove cohabitation, it would be best to find a lease with both parties' names or some other concrete evidence that the parties live together.

Here at Sagaria Law, we offer a full range of family law and legal services including divorce, paternity, adoption, child custody and visitation matters, child support, spousal support, alimony, juvenile dependency, domestic violence, division of property, grandparent visitation and custody, etc. We have seven Northern California locations including San Jose, San Francisco, Redwood City, Fremont, Salinas, Roseville and Sacramento. We offer a free thirty minute consultation, either in person at any of our offices, or over the phone. Call our offices today and we can connect you with an attorney immediately or we can schedule your free consultation with one of our family law attorneys: (408) 279-2288 or (800) 941-6730 or visit www.sagarialaw.com

Full post as published by California Family Law Blog on April 16, 2009 (boomark / email).