Alimony and post Separation Support

Alimony comes out of statute. The IRS regulations determine what will be considered alimony for tax purposes. The state controls how it gets awarded. Alimony is an order for payment for the support and maintenance of the spouse or former spouse, periodically or in a lump sum, for specified or for an indefinite term, ordered in an action for divorce, whether absolute or from bed and board, or in an action for alimony without divorce.

Post separation support means spousal support to be paid until some date specified by an order, an entry for alimony, the dismissal of an alimony claim, or the entry of absolute divorce.

Overall, the court is going to look at the financial needs of the parties. The court will look more stringently with regards to alimony, and more loosely with regards to post separation support. This is because post separation support is more of a temporary alternative to alimony.

The interesting part of both post separation support and alimony, is that the judge will look at the marital misconduct of both parties. This means that if one party has been having an affair, it would limit that party’s ability to receive support.