Spousal Support is designed to help a lower-earning spouse to make it through the divorce and the transition into a new single life. The duration of the spousal support depends on the length of the marriage and the degree to which one spouse was financially dependent on the other. The amount of spousal support is based on numerous factors, including the need of the supported spouse to maintain a standard of living close to what the couple had during the marriage.

There are other factors that are considered by the most courts when setting the duration and amount of spousal support, such as:

• Each spouse’s age and health.

• The future earning capacity of each spouse.

• The ability of the spouse seeking support to become self-supporting.

• The loss of earning capacity by the spouse seeking support that is a result of having forgone opportunities to receive education or employment in order to run household or raise the children.