Spouses who are legally married must support each other for as long as they are married and both sides are alive. A spouse is a husband or wife.A spousal support order from Family Court may be incorporated into a divorce if either of the parties later starts a divorce action in Supreme Court. Fill in the place and date of the marriage. If you are divorced from the other party, this may not be the appropriate petition. The court's goal in awarding alimony is to help the less financially stable spouse meet their needs and, hopefully, become self-supporting. A support petition is a form that tells both your husband (the respondent) and the Judge what you (the petitioner) want. When filing for divorce, both spouses have the opportunity to request spousal maintenance from the other. It is unlikely you would be required to pay alimony to an able-bodied ex-spouse with the ability to support himself. Learn how to achieve financial independence after your divorce with resources such as spousal support.