The New York courts will consider factors such as: Length of the Marriage; Conduct of the Parties during the Marriage; Age and Health of the Parties; Occupation of the Parties and their respective incomes and sources of income; Vocational Skills and Employability of the spouses; Estate of the spouses; Liabilities of the spouses; Needs of the spouses; Opportunity of the spouses to Acquire Future Income and Capital Assets; LIFETIME AND DURATIONAL MAINTENANCE IN NEW YORK

In the New York Domestic Relations Law, Section 236(B), the term "alimony" was changed to "maintenance" and the New York court was authorized to award maintenance (also known as "spousal support"), for a definite period of time "durational maintenance" or for an indefinite "nondurational" award to last until death or remarriage.

Most durational maintenance awards were made on the premise that the dependent spouse could become self-supporting after several years.

In New York, durational maintenance is more commonly awarded where the spouse seeking support "is relatively young and healthy and" is not required to care for young children.

Lifetime maintenance has been awarded, the recipient spouse has almost invariably been older and often in impaired health and the supporting spouse was in far better financial condition.

The realistic function of durational maintenance is to allow the recipient spouse an opportunity to achieve independence. Thus, the award should be in an amount and for a time period sufficient to give her a reasonable period of time in which to learn or update her work skills and to enter the employment market with a view to being self-supporting.