Judges in Washington can award three types of spousal maintenance: temporary support, shortterm maintenance, and longterm maintenance. Generally, if one spouse can support the other financially, the judge will have that spouse pay alimony to the other.At the most basic level, alimony depends on one spouse's need for financial support and the other spouse's ability to pay it. In Washington state, alimony is referred to as maintenance. A person may deduct from gross income alimony paid in cash to a previous spouse. If you're having trouble keeping up with your bills after getting a divorce, it may be possible to petition the court for an increase of your spousal support. Spousal support is a legal arrangement that requires one spouse to make payments to the other during and after a divorce. If you get legal custody of the children (you become the primary residential parent), the court will order your ex to pay you child support. For the recipient, such payments are no longer considered income. For marriages of less than five years, courts generally try to put the parties back in the financial positions they were in prior to marriage.