When a couple divorces or legally separates, the judgment may provide for one spouse or partner to pay the other a specified amount of support money each month. This is called “spousal support.” The money can be paid in installments or all at once. In Oregon, there are three different types of spousal support:
- transitional
- compensatory
- spousal maintenance
More than one type of spousal support can be ordered in a case. Transitional support is for a spouse to get an education or training in order to reenter or advance in the workplace. Compensatory support is ordered in situations where one spouse has made a significant financial or other type of contribution for the other spouse’s education, training, vocational skills, career or earning capacity. Spousal maintenance allows a spouse to maintain a similar standard of living he/she had during the marriage and is generally only ordered in long-term marriages. More information is available on the
Oregon State Bar’s website, family law resource page and at
OregonLawHelp.org. If spousal support is a contested issue in your divorce or separation trial, parties must complete and file a
Uniform Support Declaration. The form must be served on the other party according to UTCR.
Spousal Support and Taxes
Beginning Jan. 1, 2019, spousal support or separate maintenance payments are not deductible from the income of the payer spouse, or includable in the income of the receiving spouse, if made under a divorce or separation agreement executed after Dec. 31, 2018. More information is available on the
IRS website.
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