Yes, well I am leaving it to the lawyers. In the US, alimony / support / maintenance rules vary by state. In general the proposition is that the LBS is still able to maintain the "lifestyle to which accustomed" -- in other words, WAS doesn't get to maintain her/his WAS-like Ways while LBS goes to the poor house. The presumption being that WAS would not have achieved WAS's status were it not for the contributions made by LBS.
In Coastal State, for marriages under 10 years, support is ordered by the state for one-half the duration of the marriage; anything over 10 years is considered "lifetime" support, defined in Coastal State as "until death or next marriage." All "community" assets and liabilities -- everything held by the family -- is divided 50/50.
It is very unlikely that a court would order "literal" lifetime support, however, other than in exceptional cases.
The amount of support is computed by a very complicated formula, over which judges have a great deal of discretion. CHILD support, on the other hand, is based on a fixed formula.
Quote:
In the marriage I trusted my spouse to have my best interests in mind, as I had for him. In the divorce process he only cared how it affected him.
That's about as good a description as I think you're going to find anywhere of the entire World of DB.
How did I support myself before I was married? By carrying a rifle in the forces. But with 2 kids, and 25 years' worth of mileage, that's not an option anymore. Though I did have a very exciting job offer in Afghanistan the other day. But it's 1 year, no leave, so that's 1 year, no kids.
