Alimony
Alimony (also called maintenance (Britain), spousal support (U.S./Canada) and spousal maintenance (Australia)) is a legal obligation on a person to provide financial support to his or her spouse after marital separation or divorce. The obligation arises from the divorce law or family law of each country. Traditionally, alimony was paid by a husband to his former wife, but since the 1970s there have been moves in many Western countries to gender equality with a corresponding recognition that a former husband may also be entitled to alimony from his former wife.
Etymology
Template:Wiktionary The term alimony comes from the Latin word alimōnia ("nourishment, sustenance", from alere, "to nourish"), from which also alimentary (of, or relating to food, nutrition, or digestion) and the Scots law concept of aliment, and was a rule of sustenance to assure the wife's lodging, food, clothing, and other necessities after divorce.[1]
History
Alimony has been discussed in ancient legal texts including the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi<ref>{{cite book |author=Translated by L. W. King |title=The Code of Hammurabi |url=http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/hammurabi.htm |date=1 June 2004 |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=978-1-4191-5703-5