Nevada Alimony Law

Alimony is addressed by Nevada in NRS 125.150. The provisions of NRS 125.150 are intended to deal with the economic consequences of a marriage ending. This is in addition to the equitable distribution of property. As the parties enjoy the assets accumulated during marriage, they should also share the consequences of the divorce and the court should recognize the advantages and disadvantages resulting from the role each party assumed during the marriage. The court must award alimony as appears “‘just and equitable,’ having regard to the conditions in which the parties will be left in by the divorce.” Sprenger v. Sprenger, 110 Nev. 855, 859, 878 P.2d 284 (1994), citing NRS 125.150(1)(a). In Sprenger, the court cited seven factors that should be used in determining an alimony award in a divorce case:

the wife’s career prior to marriage;

the length of the marriage;

the husband’s education during the marriage;

the wife’s marketability;

the wife’s ability to support herself;

whether the wife stayed home with the children; and

the wife’s award, besides child support and alimony.

Sprenger at 859, citing Fondi v. Fondi, 106 Nev. 856, 862-64, 802 P.2d 1264, 1267-69 (1990).

The court’s ultimate goal with alimony should be to alleviate the disadvantaged spouses’s economic loses as much as possible, taking into account all of the circumstances of the parties, including the advantage conferred on the other spouse during marriage. Marriage itself does not necessarily entitle one party to alimony, but in most marriages, one spouse makes more economic sacrifices, or suffers greater economic loss during marriage and their respective roles should be considered.