ABA Family Legal Guide

Family Law

3.4 Separation, Annulment, and Divorce

Alimony/Maintenance

If one spouse supports the other through graduate or professional school, does the supporting spouse have a right to be compensated for increasing the earning capacity of the other spouse?

Some courts offer compensation for putting a spouse through school. For example, one spouse may have supported the other through graduate or professional school. The supporting spouse may have expected that both would benefit from the educated spouse's enhanced earning capacity, but the marriage ended before any material benefits were earned. In some states, the professional license of a spouse or many forms of enhanced earnings may be treated as a valuable asset if acquired during the marriage.

The supporting spouse does not need rehabilitation because that spouse has worked during the entire marriage, and there is no significant property to be distributed because marital resources went to the educational effort. In cases such as this, the courts may award compensation, usually as periodic payments, to the supporting spouse. The amount paid may be based upon the contributions of the supporting spouse to the educational expenses and general support of the spouse who leaves the marriage with an advanced degree. In some states, support also may be based upon a portion of the increased earnings of the educated spouse. The courts may change or end such payments if the expected increased earnings do not occur, but the payments are not ended by remarriage of the recipient. This type of payment sometimes is often called reimbursement alimony or alimony in gross.