Any payment of maintenance in a divorce that is terminates
or is reduced upon a child reaching the age of majority will normally not be
considered spousal support, but will be classified as child support.
Either spouse may request maintenance as part of a divorce.
In order to do so it must be requested as part of the ancillary relief
requested in the pleadings. Failure to make a demand for maintenance in the
pleadings may preclude maintenance from being requested at trial.
The current law for maintenance was enacted in 1980 under
Domestic Relations Law Section 236-B(6). In order to distinguish old cases from
the new ones, the term alimony was left for old divorce actions, while the term
maintenance was adopted for new actions.
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