Spousal Support (Alimony) Provisions

New York courts calculate post-divorce maintenance using a statutory formula tied to both spouses' incomes and the length of the marriage. A spousal support provision in your prenup lets you set your own answer instead, a fixed monthly figure, a defined number of years, a graduated amount that grows with the marriage, or a mutual waiver. Because the terms are settled while both people are calm and cooperative, the clause is designed to feel fair to both parties rather than one-sided, which is also what makes it hold up later.

This provision fits couples whose incomes are far apart, where one partner may step back from a career to raise children or support the other's business. A Financial District banker marrying a Greenwich Village artist, or an Upper East Side professional whose partner will leave the workforce, both benefit from stating support in plain numbers now. The alternative, leaving support to New York's default formula and a future judge, trades certainty for the risk of a contested figure calculated years later under circumstances no one can predict today.

New York applies a specific test to support waivers: a waiver may be set aside if it would leave one spouse a public charge or is unconscionable at the time enforcement is sought. That single rule is why a support clause has to be drafted carefully, with full financial disclosure and independent review for each partner. With 34 years of experience practicing since 1991, I write these provisions to survive that scrutiny rather than to win a moment at the negotiating table and collapse in a courtroom at 60 Centre Street.

Everything is handled remotely. Couples in Tribeca, Murray Hill, Chelsea, SoHo, Battery Park City, Harlem, and across New York County complete the work by phone and secure document exchange, no office appearances and no court appearances required. The flat fee is agreed up front, so the conversation stays focused on protecting both of you before the wedding, not on the clock.