Financial Support During and After Marriage

In New York, spousal support and maintenance come in two forms: temporary support and permanent support. Temporary support is used to ensure that the “status quo” of the parties and their family is maintained while the negotiation or litigation of the divorce is undertaken. Permanent support is a final negotiated or court-awarded amount of money that is granted to a spouse in need for a particular duration following the conclusion of the divorce to enable that spouse to develop the education, training, and income to enable them to support themselves adequately.

When spouses have vastly unequal earnings, the law provides protections for the lesser earning spouse to ensure that their reasonable needs continue to be met during the divorce, and, often, for a period once the divorce has concluded. While the law provides formulas for both temporary and permanent spousal support, there are complexities and nuances to the calculation of income, factors allowed by law to deviate from the formulas under special circumstances, and the complex interplay between equitable distribution and child support.

The attorneys at Quatela Chimeri have decades of experience assisting our clients in determining what they are entitled to from their spouse or, in the alternative, what our clients should be fairly paying to their spouse in a divorce. We work with our clients, using our trademark team approach, to assess their needs and structure awards of spousal support and maintenance that protect their futures and ensure success.

When called upon, we also work with our clients in their pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements to ensure that proper support is paid in the event of a divorce, or, in certain circumstances to limit exposure to unfair and unjust awards of maintenance in the event of a divorce. Regardless of the situation, working with a Quatela Chimeri attorney will help you achieve the fair and just result that the law provides.