If the court decides to order spousal support, there are four different types of alimony the court can chose from:

• Alimony in futuro – Intended to provide long-term support to a former spouse until that person’s death or remarriage. This situation is appropriate if the recipient is economically disadvantaged by the divorce and, because of age, disability, illness, or other reason is unable to improve his/her economic situation. This type of alimony is paid in regular installments and is subject to future modification.
• Alimony in solido – Form of long-term support, but the total amount of alimony is set at the time of the divorce and is paid in a lump sum or in installments until paid in full. Alimony in solido cannot be modified after the divorce is finalized.
• Transitional Alimony – Form of short-term spousal support that is intended to help one spouse cover the costs of transitioning to a life as a single person, i.e. one spouse moving out of the marital home may receive alimony to cover the cost of renting an apartment/house for a fixed amount of time.
• Rehabilitative Alimony – Form of support that is paid over a fixed period of time to help the disadvantaged spouse improve his/her employment options through training or education. A reason why one spouse would be awarded rehabilitative alimony would be because one spouse stopped working to stay at home to raise children. After the divorce that spouse must either resume a former career or start a new one. A spouse seeking rehabilitative alimony should be ready to present a plan that sets out what that person intends to do (i.e. obtain a college degree, professional license/certificate), how long it will take and what it will cost, and the expected benefits in employment opportunities or salary increase when the plan is complete.