Divorce

The judge can grant you spousal support, also called alimony, for a limited amount of time if the judge believes both of the following are true:

1. you don’t have enough property or income to be able to provide for your reasonable needs, considering the standard of living that you had during your marriage; and
2. your spouse can pay spousal support without it causing an “undue economic hardship.”¹

To decide how much spousal support to award you and for how many years it will last, the judge must consider the following factors:

• the age of the spouses;
• the earning ability of each spouse;
• the length of the marriage;
• how each spouse behaved during the marriage;
• each spouse’s “station in life,” which generally means one’s status in terms of wealth, social rank, occupation, etc;
• the circumstances and needs of each spouse;
• the health and physical condition of each spouse; and
• the spouses’ financial circumstances as shown by the property you own at the time of the divorce. The judge will look at the value of the property at the time of the divorce, the income-producing capacity of the property, and whether the property was purchased before or after your marriage.²

¹ N.D. Cent. Code § 14-05-24.1(2)
² N.D. Cent. Code § 14-05-24.1(3)