Spousal maintenance, also known as spousal support or alimony, is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial support to their spouse before or after marital separation or divorce. Here are some key points to know about spousal maintenance:
- It is a court-ordered financial payment that one ex-spouse sends to the other after the couples divorce is finalized.
- It may be awarded to a spouse for different lengths of time and different amounts based on the income of each spouse.
- The calculation uses each person’s income and applies a cap so that the income or imputed income of the receiving spouse plus maintenance does not exceed 40% of the total net income of both parties.
- Spousal maintenance is not automatically awarded in every divorce case. Sometimes, both parties decide to waive the right to spousal maintenance. In other situations, the parties have comparable salaries, making maintenance a non-issue.
- Temporary spousal maintenance is a financial obligation that a higher-earning spouse must pay the other spouse before their divorce is finalized.
- Alimony is financial support paid by one ex-spouse to the other after the marriage has legally ended.
- Separate maintenance is financial support paid from one spouse to the other while they are still married to one another.
Overall, spousal maintenance is a legal tool that equitably divides the income of the parties and ensures fairness, that one party will not suffer significant financial hardship as a result of the divorce.
