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Louisiana Board of Legal Specialization 1993
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Vive La Difference? Interim Spousal Support in Louisiana

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The Advocate recently reported that Louisiana ranked second worst in the “gender pay gap”. For this among other reasons, one of the most contentious issues in a Louisiana divorce is that of interim spousal support (temporary alimony).

As Thomas Sowell pointed out in his editorial on The Advocate’s Opinion page, the reasons for income disparity between men and women are many and varied. Income disparity is often the result of personal choices rather than sex discrimination. When children are young, wives and mothers may assume more of the child caring and raising duties. Employers may be reluctant to hire women whose family obligations could take them away from work at a moment’s notice. Employers who are willing to hire them in spite of their need to put family first may use them to fill low paying positions where their occasional and unpredictable absences will not have an adverse impact on the business. A man may have asked his wife not to work and her job skills may have degraded over time. A man may have married a woman whose education and training did not lend themselves to a high paying job.

In these circumstances, interim spousal support is designed to transfer income from the husband to the wife so that the wife’s standard of living pending divorce is not adversely affected by the disparity in their income or their earning potential. Temporary alimony is temporary, however. Once the husband and wife are legal strangers – that is – separate, single people once again – the law expects both of them to pull their own wagons.

There are exceptions including special consideration for spouses who are unable to work or whose education, training and experience do not permit them to immediately find work that will pay a living wage. In such cases, permanent spousal support is available. In any event, until American society transforms itself into a same sex culture where the roles of men and women are identical in every respect – a prospect not all may welcome – income disparity will continue to generate a need for interim spousal support.

What Our Clients Say
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I hired Louis to represent me in my custody battle. From the start he was upfront and honest with me, if he said he was going to do something he did it and he never attempted to settle for anything less than what I was asking. He was not afraid to go head to head with opposing counsel which is what we ended up having to do. Thanks to Louis and his experience and knowledge of family law we won our case. I highly recommend Louis and will always use him for my future family Court needs.
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I had no idea how to even look for an attorney when I found myself needing one. Mr. Cosenza is the best attorney I have encountered, and I took a lot of time finding one. He is brilliant in matters of the law. He approached my case from every angle. I am so thankful he was my attorney. I started out knowing absolutely nothing about court related matters. He answered even my smallest questions and guided me through to understand what was best for me and my children. He was excellent in communication with quick replies. He will have all of my recommendations.
Becky
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Attorney Cosenza at his craft
My journey with Mr. Cosenza began nearly 3 years ago when I contacted him about divorce proceedings. During our initial consultation he told me exactly what to expect and we discussed cost, which I thought reasonable. After retaining him as my attorney and finalizing my divorce, things became fairly intense during the negotiation of the property settlement; yet he was relentless and tenacious. In the end, we prevailed victorious and everything came together perfectly. Attorney Cosenza always responded in a timely manner to my many calls, emails and texts. He gave clear, detailed, rational explanations of what I could expect. His work on my case has been life changing, in the best way possible. I am forever in his debt.
Sean
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He does his very best
Working with Louis Cosenza truly helped to make my very difficult emotional and legal situation feel much more comfortable as I knew his experience and expertise was there to support and guide me. He knows the law and he does his very best to use that knowledge to represent his clients in and out of the courtroom.
Craig
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I would like to start by saying I am from TX and my ex wife tried to file a judgment in LA. I contacted a number of lawyers that explained to me that this maybe a process that they could look into. I spoke with Mr. Cosenza with his 30 plus year of experience and he assured me this was not going to be a issue. He was very informative on the proceedings that where going to take place. He couldn’t have called it any better. There wasn’t even a need for me to travel to show in court. It is definitely worth a little extra to hire one of the best. I hope I hope won’t be needing his help again but if I do need another lawyer in LA. I won’t hesitate to contact him and he will be my lawyer again.
Michael