Spousal Support/Alimony

What is Spousal Support/Alimony?

Alimony, or spousal support, is the payment by one spouse to another of a certain sum of money, paid either during the pendency of a divorce case (“temporary alimony”) or after the divorce is finalized. Courts examine the circumstances on a case-by-case basis.

Unlike child support, there are no statutory guidelines that a Court uses to determine how much alimony should be paid after a divorce. Therefore, predicting the amount and duration of alimony in any given case is difficult. There are, however, a number of factors that the Court uses to determine how much alimony should be paid, including but not limited to the following:

• the past relations and the conduct of the parties
• the length of the marriage
• the ability of the parties to work
• the source of and amount of property awarded to the parties
• the ages of the parties
• the ability of the parties to pay spousal support
• the present situation of the parties
• the needs of the parties
• the health of the parties
• the prior standard of living of the parties and whether either party is responsible for the support of others
• parties’ contributions to the joint estate
• a party’s fault in causing the divorce
• how cohabitation affects a party’s financial status
• general principles of equity