If someone in the Army gets a divorce, will they have to pay a lot of spousal support?

Question Detail

My friend is thinking of divorcing his wife but he is scared that she will get everything. He is in Army and she works at a factory. They got married August 14 2006. She is verbally mean and she has used weed. They have 3 cars. If he files for divorce will he have to pay her support?

Answer

The law in California allows spousal support to be awarded based on the parties’ income and certain factors the court looks at such as ability and opportunity to find work. California wants the supported spouse to become self supporting, but the Court does not want to leave one spouse with no sort of income or resources especially if the party is not employed. The military has its own laws regarding the payment of support, but these can be superseded by a Court order. Typically in the military, it is ordered that one half the BAH is given to the spouse as support. The Court looks at multiple factors that include income, standard of living during the marriage, income, age and education.

Even for a short term marriage such as yours the judge will likely award a support order but that is taking all factors into consideration. The standard in California is that support is awarded for half the length of the marriage. The longest period of time would be 2.5 years. The amount would be determined on the income of both parties.