You can certainly challenge it, but probably not successfully. The 13th Amendment prohibits involuntary servitude, which has been defined by the U.S. Supreme Court as, "Forcing a person to labor on behalf of another by threat of physical force or legal coercion." U.S. v. Kozminski.
It is difficult to argue that spousal maintenance, which is an order to pay support to a spouse, does not fall squarely within the confines of the quoted definition. A
court order to pay support to another, for most people, means an order to labor to produce the income necessary to pay such support. Yet, courts throughout the U.S. have uniformly refused to rule spousal support unconstitutional, frequently citing another very old U.S. Supreme Court decision, Wetmore v. Markoe, which in effect stated that spousal support is "punishment" for a breach of the marital duty of fidelity.
Modernly, of course, infidelity/adultery is no longer grounds for divorce, nor is it considered a crime, as it was at the time that the Wetmore decision was made, so the logic of the various court rulings that depend upon Wetmore are rather clearly irrational.
Nevertheless, courts refuse to touch this political hot potato, and I see no sign of this changing anytime soon.
Why, you may ask? The answer is simple -- because women represent one half of the electorate, they are the predominate benficiaries of spousal support, and invalidating this particular public policy would cause a very large number of judges and legislators to lose their jobs.
My advice to you, my friend, is to attempt to buy out your soon-to-be-ex. Try to get her to voluntarily waive her future right to support for a lump sum advance payment. It's worth it, for the peace of mind in knowing that your future will be yours alone, even if you will be practically starting over in trying to create it.
Unfair you say? I agree, in fact, my personal opinion of spousal support (aka alimony), is that it is a singularly evil legal anachronism that has no place in modern culture, and it should be burned on the ash heap of history. But, the cost of an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and that is most certainly where you would need to go, would be far more spendy, and much more risky.
Hope I've helped. This is my "hot button" issue, in case you didn't know. Wish I had better advice, but I don't.
In the future, sign a premarital agreement eliminating spousal support, or don't get married. PERIOD!
