Q: Are all higher earning spouse always has to pay spousal support? Even in relationship abandonments situation?
A:
The spouse with more earnings is not necessarily always obligated to pay spousal support, although that is essentially the presumption. In fact, you can find out how much the recipient spouse would be given, at least temporarily while litigation proceeds, by a calculator available from the Office of Court Administration's website. The calculator is at
https://ww2.nycourts.gov/divorce/MaintenanceChildSupportTools.shtml. A claim of abandonment in the litigation may play a part if it has or had financial consequences. If not, then it would not be pertinent because equitable distribution is not based on who is or was more moral or at fault for the divorce.
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