Hello, and thank you for contacting Just Answer.

What state is this in?

Generally a court will only award spousal support where the support is justified by the other spouse not being able to work or maintain the lifestyle that they had prior to the divorce. Where both spouses are capable of working, and the spouse requesting support has the higher income, it is certainly less likely that a court would grant support in that situation.

Again, different states have different rules, and if your wife is an attorney, it would concern me if you were not represented by an attorney at the hearing, because theoretically the court can grant whatever support it wants to (within some guidelines). However, as a general matter, no that does not sound like a situation in which the court would award support. In fact, if she is still working and has considerably more income than you, it might even be a situation in which you could seek support.

Again, this would be a good reason to have an attorney representing you. Generally support goes to the lower wage earner if there is any support at all, unless some good justification is given for why the support is necessary. Based on the information provided, I cannot see how support would be justified.

I hope this helps, and let me know if you have any further questions. Otherwise, if you have no further questions, please remember to RATE my answer AT LEAST 3 out of 5, so that I can receive credit for my work.

She is claiming no income but is a licensed attorney? She has no practice of any kind? Did she give up her practice to raise children or keep the home?

Thank you for the extra information but that does not explain why she has no income. Is there a reason she has not been working or cannot find employment? Is it because she is licensed in the US and not in Panama?

How has she been living for 2 years without income?

Ok, thank you for the extra information.

The factors that a court in Mississippi will consider when deciding whether to grant spousal support are:

1. the income and expenses of the parties;
2. the health and earning capacity of the parties;
3. the needs of each party;
4. the obligations and assets of each party;
5. the length of the marriage;
6. the presence and absence of minor children in the home, which may require that one or both of the parties either pay, or personally provide child care;
7. the age of the parties;
8. the standard of living of the parties, both during the marriage and at the time of the support determination;
9. the tax consequences of the spousal support order;
10. any fault or misconduct;
11. wasteful dissipation of the assets by either party;
12. any other factor deemed by the court to be "just and equitable" in connection with the setting of spousal support.

(from the state Supreme Court case Armstrong v. Armstrong)

There is nothing based on the information provided and applying it to these factors that would indicate that spousal support is appropriate.

However, as I said before, the court may see things differently, and that is why it is a very good idea to have an attorney represent you when making the argument that spousal support is not appropriate given the circumstances.

You are welcome. While that may be exactly what is happening, having a lawyer with you if possible makes sure that you are covering all of your bases as well. I hope this helps, and let me know if you have any further questions. Otherwise, please remember to RATE my answer AT LEAST 3 out of 5, so that I can receive credit for my work.

You take care as well and good luck to you.

Please do remember to RATE my answer AT LEAST 3 out of 5 so that I can receive credit for my work.