Alimony exists because church courts could never truly end a marriage
Alimony comes from the Latin for nourishment, the same root as alimentary. Its modern form grew out of English church courts, which could separate a couple but could not dissolve their marriage. Since the husband was still a husband, his duty to support his wife simply carried on after they parted.
The idea is far older than those courts. The Code of Hammurabi, from 1754 BC, required a man leaving a woman who had borne his children to return her dowry and give her part of his land and goods so she could raise them, after which she was free to marry the man of her heart. Because it covered only mothers, it resembles modern child support more than spousal support. The Code of Justinian discussed the subject too.
English church courts granted support both while proceedings dragged on and after a separation that left the marriage legally alive. Traditional common law also meant a wife surrendered her personal property on marriage, so support was the husband's side of that bargain, until the Married Women's Property Acts of 1870 and 1882 let divorced women reclaim what they had owned before.
When divorce became easier in the 19th century, it still required proof of misconduct, and alimony became tied to blame. A wronged wife received it, since the marriage would have continued but for her husband's behaviour; a wife found at fault lost her claim. In practice few couples could afford it, and courts awarded it more often only as husbands' incomes rose. No-fault divorce turned support from a right into something conditional, though the American Bar Association notes fault is still a factor in 25 states and the District of Columbia.
The payer is no longer assumed to be a man. In the 1970s the US Supreme Court ruled against gender bias in awards, and census figures show male recipients rising from 2.4 percent in 2001 to 3.6 percent in 2006. Permanent awards are falling out of favour, criticised for discouraging work or remarriage, and some countries now prefer rehabilitative support meant to help a former spouse become self-sufficient.
Source: Alimony
