Spousal Support in Los Angeles and Retirement

Spousal Support in Los Angeles and Retirement

Our Los Angeles Family Law firm handles spousal support cases. Call us to schedule a consultation today!

Are you looking to retire and wonder how that would affect your spousal support obligation in Los Angeles?

Pursuant to California law, a payor of spousal support has an absolute right to retire at the age of 65, In Re: Marriage of Reynolds 63 Cal. App. 4th 1375.  

Pursuant to In Re: Marriage of Shimkus, 244 Cal.App.4th 1262, and applicable California law, in certain circumstances, a party may have adequate justification to retire prior to the age of 65 but the court must still determine whether the early retirement was adequately justified, whether termination or modification of spousal support is appropriate, and the court must consider the Family Code Section 4320 factors. 

For example, In Marriage of Shimkus, the payor of spousal support was a firefighter, and firefighters tend to retire much earlier due to the harsh conditions of their work and the physical labor. Upon expert testimony stating that firefighters customarily retire in their 40s, and the payor had exceeded that standard and retired in his 50s. The court found that his early retirement was adequately justified as the payor exceeded the standard.

Spousal Support is a complicated process as the California Family Code Section 4320 has a lot of factors the court must go through to make a spousal support decision in Los Angeles. The California Family Code Section 4320 can be found in this article here. Usually, the court holds an evidentiary hearing or a trial on spousal support to go through the California Family Code Section 4320 factors to determine whether spousal support should be terminated, increased, or modified.

If you are looking to modify, seek, or terminate spousal support in Los Angeles our firm is experienced in all spousal support matters. We have successfully terminated, increased, and modified spousal support in Los Angeles.

Therefore, the court can impute income if they believe that early retirement is not adequately justified.

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