As you probably already have heard, New York State finally joined the other 49 states and has enacted a No Fault Divorce statute allowing couples who want to divorce, but who didn’t previously have a “reason” to now part ways without having to accuse their spouse of wrongdoing.
However, this new statute came with some strings attached – one of which is temporary spousal support. Prior to the effective date of this new law in October 2010, New York had a formula for calculating child support, but there was no formula for calculating spousal support. Instead, the Court would determine whether or not spousal support would be awarded based upon a list of factors and considerations.
The legislature, in this new law, created a formula for temporary spousal support. In other words, one party, after the divorce proceeding is commenced, can make a motion to the court to set temporary orders of child support and spousal support and the Court will apply the formula defined in the statute. They are temporary since they are orders that will last during the pendency of the divorce proceeding.
The new formula has removed the subjectivity of determining the temporary spousal support. However, it does not address whether it should be the basis for permanent spousal support. What some Courts decide remains to be seen.
