typically the first place we look is if

there’s a disparity in income between

the parties

and so that you know one side is going

to land far ahead of the other related

to that we also look at the duration of

the marriage so if it’s a very short

marriage and there’s a disparity

you know no one gave up anything because

of the marriage perhaps

someone can still pursue education or

their career or whatever but if someone

you know took a back seat

in their career

or didn’t pursue education or what you

know any any number of things made

decisions to support the family that

didn’t increase their their earning

capacity then we look at at uh spousal

maintenance then it becomes really you

know in a longer marriage you look at

longer duration of spousal maintenance

bigger disparity you look at bigger

amounts of spousal maintenance it’s

probably the most complex

part of family law

i mean it’s far easier to sort out who

had what time with the kids historically

who did what with the kids it’s easier

to sort out you know the value of a

business or other assets

this is a number of elements that’s

really uh really intricate and with the

broad discretion that judges have it’s

really

it’s hard to predict which means it

should get resolved because you just

don’t know

you know you could spend a lot of money

at a trial and

and be surprised at the outcome it’s

intricate but it’s largely need versus

ability to pay

at its at its core level with a lot of

nuance behind it