In 2010, the state of New York passed a law regarding spousal and child support payments. The new law forces the judge in a divorce case to adhere to a formula that calculates what the payment amounts should be. The law caps monthly payments at $11,500, unless the judge can provide a just reason to surpass that amount.

Prior to the enactment of this law, judges could openly interpret the law on the books which stated that alimony or child support should be determined "in such amount as justice requires." The new law uses a formula that measures recent tax documents and the incomes of the ex-spouses to reach the support payment amount. Only up to $500,000 can the spouses annual incomes be measured.

The new law does not explicitly say how health care and mortgage payments factor into the equation, and because of this a couple has gone to court regarding what the formula determined a man should pay his ex-wife. The monthly total came to $13,870 - already over the limit - but it also did not include over $6,000 in mortgage and health care payments. All together, the man would have had to pay his ex-wife about $20,000 per month in spousal support payments.

These amounts were ruled adequate by the state Supreme Court. An appeals court, however, disagreed, and sent the case back to trial to address the monthly payments. The appeals court also stated that the new law does indeed intend to cover all living expenses - so child support, health care, and mortgage costs are all to be included under the premise of the new law.

Source: Reuters, "Appeals court sets guidelines for alimony and child support," Joseph Ax, Feb. 7, 2012