During marriage, many couples become accustomed to a certain lifestyle. When a couple goes through a divorce, one or both spouses may expect to maintain the lifestyle that they were used to living during the marriage.

Following a divorce, spousal support, also known as alimony, is often allotted to a spouse who may have depended on the other for support during the marriage. In some situations, this is the spouse that was home taking care of the children instead of working. Though alimony has historically been a maintenance obligation, more recently it has become a temporary support until the spouse can financially support themselves.

This may be because there have been instances where spouses have abused alimony payments. As a result, lobbyists in certain states including Ohio have begun pushing for time limits on spousal support payments.

Here are some examples of squandered alimony packages:

  • Nicole Murphy - after her marriage to Eddie Murphy ended, she was awarded $15 million. Four years later, she spent it all and wound up in debt.
  • Patricia Kluge - her divorce from billionaire John Kluge also landed her in debt, even though she was awarded a billion dollar alimony package.
  • Diandra Douglas - she got $45 million for divorcing Michael Douglas. Apparently that was not enough because she recently attempted to get more money.

How did these women spend all that money? Most exes do not receive spousal support anywhere near these multi-million dollar amounts. The article notes that it is the expectation that lifestyle should not have to change and the lavish spending continued. But for most couples going through a divorce, spousal support should be looked at as an investment.

Source: Huffington Post online, "The Biggest Mistake Women Make With Alimony," Jill Brooke, 04 February 2011