Alimony Calculator Rhode Island

A Short Introduction to Rhode Island Alimony Calculator

What is a Rhode Island alimony calculator?
An alimony calculator is used by lawyers and their clients to estimate what a spousal support order will be. They require a state to have very strict guidelines for calculating alimony that can be reflected in a mathematical equation. Unfortunately, Rhode Island’s guidelines are very loose, which makes Rhode Island alimony calculators rare and inaccurate. However, an individual can simulate the effects of an alimony calculator for Rhode Island by analyzing their own finances and state laws.

What factors affect a Rhode Island alimony calculator?
Rhode Island Statute § 15-5-16 directs judges regarding the factors they are to consider for their Rhode Island alimony calculator. You can read it here.
Afterwards, answer the following questions adapted from the Statute. The more “Yes” answers you give, the higher you should make your Rhode Island alimony calculator estimation.
1. Did the marriage last five years or more? (If no, then an alimony award is unlikely.) Did it last ten years? Twenty years of more?
2. Was any misconduct performed by either spouse during marriage? This may mean spousal abuse, conduct leading to the dissolution of the marriage, or mismanagement of joint finances.
3. Is the lower-income spouse over 50?
4. Is the lower-income spouse incapable of regular employment considering their health, mental condition and vocational skills?
5. Is the higher-income spouse not under any obligations regarding debt payment?
6. Is one spouse the primary physical custody of a minor child or dependent adult, which makes seeking regular full-time employment outside the house impractical or inappropriate?
7. Has one spouse been absent from the workforce for a considerable period of time due to domestic responsibilities? Has the diminishment of their relative education and skill-set during this time led to a lowering of their earning abilities?
8. Will it take a considerable but reasonable amount of education to adequately return the lower-income spouse to a place of reasonable employment?
9. Was the standard of living that was established during the marriage high?
10. Does either spouse expect in the future to receive further income or capital assets, perhaps as a result of an inheritance or trust?
11. Is it possible for the higher-income spouse to live according to the standard of living established during the marriage, if it was reasonable, while paying alimony?

Types of Rhode Island Alimony
A Rhode Island alimony calculator can be used to estimate several different types of alimony, but you should be sure to know which type you are most likely to receive.
1. Alimony Pendante Lite—The Latin term for temporary alimony, it is support only active from the time a couple separates to when the divorce is finalized.
2. Periodic Alimony—That alimony which continues from the divorce’s finalization for a set period established by the judge, usually a series of years. It is meant to keep one spouse living at the standards of the marriage who would not otherwise able to do so.
3. Rehabilitative alimony—Economic support to help a spouse obtain the education to competitively enter the workforce.