The issues surrounding long term California marriages and the 10 year rule are many. While 10 years is generally considered the rule for what distinguished a long term marriage, there are plenty of other things to consider. For purposes of this article, we are just talking in terms of the general rule.

Long Term California Marriage & 10 Year Rule For Spousal Support

In this video, we’re talking about, how long is a long term marriage in California? Pretty straight forward. I shouldn’t say straightforward. If you’re looking for a numerical value, 10 years is the line in the sand between a short term marriage and a long term marriage.

10 Years Is The “General” Rule

Now, there’s all kinds of rules and the attorneys make it very complex. There’s lots of laws surrounding this, so that can be changed. It’s not a hard and fast rule, but it is to the extent that once it is 10 years, it is considered a long term marriage unless there’s some other factors involved, but we’re not going to get into all that complexity, so 10 years.

The reason I bring this up is if you have a long term marriage, related to spousal support, there are some, I guess benefits you could say. If you are married longer than 10 years in regards to spousal support, technically the spousal support order or the jurisdiction over the issue of spousal support is indefinite.

Indefinite Jurisdiction Not Lifetime Support

It doesn’t mean you get life support or support for life. That’s commonly misconstrued, but if it’s less than 10 years, the general rule is that half the length of the marriage is what the courts would generally rule for spousal support. That’s kind of the biggest difference and that’s why I wanted to talk about the 10 year rule with alimony.

You can simply Google this to learn more about this. Just simply put California divorce long term marriage. There’s plenty of resources and articles written by attorneys that explain the rules of spousal support in regards to the length of marriage.

I’m Tim Blankenship, divorce661.com, handling divorce cases throughout California. Give us a call if you need some assistance. 661 281 0266, or go to divorce661.com for more information. Thanks so much for watching.