Alimony or spousal support is financial support that one spouse pays to another following a divorce. It is generally meant to help the receiving spouse maintain a living standard similar to that which the spouses had during the marriage or in case of a shorter term marriage, short term alimony may be ordered giving the receiving spouse some time to return to the workforce or get a degree
A court faced with a request to order alimony payments will consider how long the spouses were married, the standard of living during the marriage and the spouses’ respective incomes, age, education level, conduct during the marriage and financial contributions during the marriage. They also take into account how the marital property is being divided.