Are there “spousal support guidelines” like “child support guidelines”?
Generally, the answer is “no.” Child support guidelines were put in place by the states as a result of encouragement by the federal government. The federal government enforced this encouragement by threatening to withhold federal contributions to state welfare funds unless the states enacted guidelines. The federal government did not do this with regard to spousal support. Spousal support is still believed to be the domain of the states and state law. That said, two states have enacted state-wide spousal support guidelines Pennsylvania and Arkansas In addition, several counties in several states have enacted county-wide spousal support guidelines. Your lawyer will know whether you live in one of these counties or whether one of these sets of spousal support guidelines will affect you.
