A Short Introduction to North Dakota Alimony Calculators
What is a North Dakota alimony calculator?
Alimony calculators are used in some states to estimate spousal support payments. They rely on very strict guidelines established by state legislatures to create a mathematical alimony formula.
Unfortunately, North Dakota’s alimony guidelines are some of the loosest in the county. The most that’s on the books is that judges are allowed to grant alimony to some spouses; what factors into that decision is totally at their discretion.
Yet you shouldn’t despair. With a little research, it is easily to simulate the results of a North Dakota alimony calculation and to do it more accurately than any computer program could.
Part 1: The Requested Alimony Calculator in North Dakota
We may not be able to use an actual North Dakota alimony calculator since there aren’t any state-mandated alimony formulas, but there is a simple formula that many lawyers use in creating their alimony requests for clients. Just follow along with the formula, and you’ll be well on your way to simulating the effects of a North Dakota alimony calculator.
Step 1: Calculate what your joint married standard of living was. All you need to do is consider the total costs incurred during your last year of cohabitation with each other. If your marriage ended with a significant period of separation, then you should look back to your last full year of living together. Be sure to subtract from the number any costs that you can attribute to your minor child or another type of dependent. These costs have to have been totally incurred by you.
Step 2: Find the individual married standard of living. For this, all you have to do is divide the married standard of living by half. Two can certainly live cheaper than one, but remember that this is a very rough estimate.
Step 3: Now simply deduct the income of the lower-income spouse from the individual married standard of living. Assuming you get a positive number, that means the higher-income spouse needs to contribute funds to ensure the same standard of living is upheld for the lower-income spouse. You’ve now calculated a possible annual alimony request.
Step 4: Just divide the result in Step 3 by 12 so that you get a monthly alimony payment amount.
Part 2: Making the North Dakota Alimony Calculator More Accurate
To further refine the answer you got from the above North Dakota alimony calculator, just ask yourself the following questions. The more “Yes” answers you get, the higher your eventual alimony payment will probably be.
1. Did the marriage last at least five years?
2. Is the income of one spouse significantly higher than the income of the other?
3. Is one spouse unable to work because of a guardianship
4. Was the joint shared standard of living especially high?
5. Does the lower-income spouse need further education to enter the workforce in a competitive manner?
6. Was debt incurred by the lower-income spouse as part of the divorce agreement?