Orr v. Orr

Alimony is a type of payment, secured by court order, whereby one member of a divorcing couple agrees to make regular payments toward the support of the other member. Usually the person making the payment is the former husband, and the person receiving payment is the former wife. This has been so even since the mass entrance of women into the workplace following the gains of the feminist movement in the early 1970s, because males still tend to earn more than females--even for comparable work.

Alimony is a form of support, and is generally awarded in situations where divorcing couples have children. Since men gain sole custody of the children only rarely, it is likely that the former wife will be responsible for raising them.

In alimony settlements, the income of the higher-earning spouse is treated as an asset, and unless he is in his peak earning years, it is most often an asset that has not reached full maturity. Sometimes the judge will award a token sum of alimony, such as $1.00 a year, in order to facilitate further challenges on the part of the wife, given the fact that it is easier to modify an existing award than to establish one after the divorce is final.