How alimony plays a pivotal role after divorce
The term “recordkeeping” feels like it is from a bygone era. Nowadays we have myriad computer programs and applications that can track critical information in an instant. Why bother monitoring information or keeping a paper trail in this era of technological growth?
But when it comes to a divorce, there is an important reason why you should do some recordkeeping. If you are, or your spouse is, awarded alimony, it then means that the other spouse will have to pay that form of support. These payments aren’t strictly monitored by the courts, and instead the responsibility falls on the spouses. If the paying spouse fails to uphold his or her responsibility, then it is up to the other spouse to bring legal action or litigation against the at-fault party.
When doing this, having evidence and records to supplement your claims is obvious a necessity — hence why you should always track your payments with detailed information.
So what should you keep track of? To begin, all of the basic information on the check that the paying spouse writes should be tracked. So the check amount; the check number; the bank used; the bank account; and the date of the payment are all critical pieces of information. You should also mark down the address it was sent from and delivered to. If your former spouse doesn’t pay by check – i.e. if cash is used – make a paper receipt that both you and s/he sign.