How long does alimony need to be paid?

Alimony, or spousal support, is income that one spouse agrees to or is mandated to pay to the other as part of the divorce over and above child support.  Usually guidelines state that spousal support is paid for a length of time related to the length of the marriage (for example, one year of spousal support for every 5 years of marriage).

If both spouses are employed and self sufficient, or if the duration of the marriage was short, spousal support may not be warranted.  It’s important to structure and document alimony payments correctly in order to ensure that they are tax deductible.