Gale Encyclopedia of American Law Volume 3 P53 fully illuminates today's leading cases, major statutes, legal terms and concepts, notable persons involved with the law, important documents and more. Legal issues are fully discussed in easy-to-understand language, including such high-profile topics as the Americans with Disabilities Act, capital punishment, domestic violence, gay and lesbian rights, physician-assisted suicide and thousands more. | 508 DIVORCE Maintenance is most often used to provide temporary support to a spouse who was financially dependent on the other during the marriage. Temporary maintenance is designed to provide the necessary support for a spouse until he or she either remarries or becomes selfsupporting. Many states allow courts to consider marital fault in determining whether and how much maintenance should be granted. These states include Connecticut Georgia Hawaii Iowa Kansas Kentucky Maine Massachusetts Missouri Nebraska North Carolina Ohio Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Virginia West Virginia and Wisconsin. Like the entire body of divorce law the issue of maintenance differs from state to state. If a spouse is found to have caused the breakup of the marriage Georgia North Carolina Virginia and West Virginia allow a court to refuse maintenance even if that spouse was financially dependent on the other. North Carolina requires a showing of the supporting spouse s fault before awarding maintenance. Illinois allows fault grounds for divorce but excludes consideration of fault in maintenance and property settlements. Florida offers only nofault grounds for divorce but admits evidence of adultery in maintenance determinations. An antenuptial agreement or premarital agreement is a contract between persons who plan to marry concerning property rights upon divorce. A postnuptial agreement is a contract entered into by divorcing parties before they reach court. Traditionally antenuptial agreements were discouraged by state legislatures and courts as being contrary to the public policy in favor of lifetime marriage. An antenuptial agreement is made under the assumption that the marriage may not last forever which suggests that it facilitates divorce. No state expressly prohibits antenuptial agreements but as in any contract case courts reserve the right to void any that it finds unconscionable or to have been made under duress. State statutes that
