In New York State, a married person may file a petition in Family Court seeking spousal support from a current husband or wife. Parents must financially support their child until the child turns 21 years old or is emancipated.A spouse can file a petition in New York Family Court for the other spouse to pay spousal support even if they have not yet filed for divorce. Family Court has special clerks to help people fill out the support petition and file the case. It does not cost any money to start a case in Family Court. New York uses a formula as a guideline for setting alimony payments, but courts can exercise considerable discretion in ordering alimony. The Law Department assists local and out-of-state custodial parents in establishing an order of support from non-custodial parents. Spousal support is an amount of money that the court orders one spouse to pay to the other spouse for his or her reasonable needs. To start your case, go to a Family Court clerk and ask them to help you with a "Spousal Support Petition. A spousal support order from Family Court ends when a divorce is granted.