Divorce Wife's Rights

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The Family Court ensures that the rights of a wife in divorce are maintained. The general scenario is that a wife earns less than her husband. The court's perspective is that the wife must be able to continue the same standard of life as she has experienced during marital life.

Divorce Wife's Rights regarding Child Custody

One of the most crucial rights of a wife in divorce is that of Child Custody. It is believed that in most of the cases, the child is better placed with the mother. Accordingly, in a majority of divorce cases, the child custody rights are granted to the wife. However, prior to awarding this sort of custody, the court takes into account several factors, some of which are as follows.

• Mental and physical health of the husband and wife
• Income of the husband and wife
• The best interests of the child

Divorce Wife's Rights regarding Child Support

Consider that a wife has been granted child custody rights. Then, it is the right of this wife to request child support payments from her husband.

Divorce Rights of Wife about Spousal Support

Spousal Support or Alimony or Maintenance is regarded as one of the crucial rights of wife in a divorce. If a wife earns lesser amount of money as compared to her husband, she is granted spousal support. When the court compares the relative incomes of the divorcing partners, the income from all sources is added. Some of these sources are as follows.

• Salary
• Investments
• Bonds
• Stocks
• Income from Property

When the court determines the amount of spousal support, it takes into account many factors. Some of these are listed below.

• Gross earnings of the divorcing partners
• Property of the spouses
• Duration of the marriage
• Health of the spouses
• Age of the spouses

After due consideration of all the conditions, the court can issue orders to award permanent alimony. This amount has to be paid till the payer is dead or the wife begins to reside with another partner or the wife marries another person.

There is another type of alimony called as rehabilitative or temporary alimony. The court specifies the time duration till which this alimony has to be paid. If the wife is unemployed, she has the right to claim Pendente Lite or Interim alimony. This means that spousal support is paid by the husband to the wife in course of the divorce lawsuit.

Divorce Rights of Wife about Division of Property

Each state in the United States has its own laws regarding distribution of property.

• In those states in which common law is observed, the following rules are adhered to
• If the property was registered in the wife's name, it is given to the wife
• If the property was registered jointly, the property is equally divided between husband and wife
• In some states community property law is followed. Here, all the marital property is divided in a 50:50 ratio
• If equitable property division is carried out, the court ensures an equitable and fair division of property. Thus, the court might grant two third of the property to the higher earning partners and one third to the lower earning partner

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