Compensatory Spousal Payments under the ALI Principles

This lesson deals with a topic more commonly known as alimony, spousal support, or maintenance. Its focus is Chapter 5 of the American Law Institute Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution. This is an introductory lesson. It assumes you have spent little or no time discussing this material in class.

The lesson is divided into three parts:

• Part I contains introductory provisions.
• Part II concentrates on awards based on disparate spousal earning capacity (ALI Topic 2 awards).
• Part III concentrates on awards based on reimbursement and rescission (ALI Topic 3 awards).

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the lesson, the student will be able to:

1. Discuss some of the issues of the topic more commonly known as alimony, spousal support, or maintenance.
2. Explain the relevance of the American Law Institute's Principles of the Law of Family Dissolution to the area of compensatory spousal payments.
3. Explain the difference between a Principle and a rule of statewide application in awarding compensatory spousal payments.
4. Analyze the issues of awards that recognize disparities in the spouses' earning capacities.