Question

If Bill owes his ex-wife alimony (maintenance) payments and is obligated to pay $11,000 for an educational loan, what effect will his discharge have on these obligations?

Answer 1

Spousal maintenance can be paid for a fixed term (which might need to be extended) e.g. until the youngest child reaches 18 or for life e.g. until one or the other dies. It can even extend beyond the death of the payer if that maintenance has been secured. You can also have a nominal order, which is where nothing substantive is paid, but there is no clean break, leaving the door open for claims to be made later on. It is like a pilot light which gently burns in the background. A clean break order is where no spousal maintenance is payable.