Support may be temporary, rehabilitative, durational, or permanent depending on the jurisdiction and marriage length. Factors include income disparity, marriage duration, standard of living, and contributions to the other's career.
Several states have adopted guideline formulas.
Alternative Names:
Alimony|Maintenance
Why it Matters?
Marriage duration drives both entitlement and duration in most frameworks, with many states applying formulas tying support length to a percentage of marriage length, which makes the marriage duration calculation consequential in cases near a statutory threshold. Cohabitation and remarriage terminate or suspend support in most jurisdictions, and drafting the termination triggers explicitly avoids later disputes about what cohabitation means.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
What drives entitlement and duration?
What terminates support?
