For divorcing couples who don't have prenups -- most people, that is -- there's the legal sport of fighting over property. Sometimes this fighting extends to each other's income.

Twenty years ago, the word 'divorce' was typically followed by 'alimony,' but times have changed. As women have become less financially dependent on men, they have less need for alimony. Women's inroads into the job market have also meant that more men are able to collect alimony, whereas years ago the courts wouldn't even consider granting it to a male.

To get alimony, one has to prove that one can't support oneself in the style to which one has become accustomed during the marriage, based on his or her current earning capacity. Further, one must prove that his or her spouse actually has the money, as no one can squeeze blood from a turnip in the American civil justice system.

In deciding whether alimony should be paid, the court considers myriad factors: the length of the marriage, the age of the parties, the parties' respective earning capacities, and any loss of earning capacity experienced by one party as a result, for example, of putting the other party through school or staying home with children. The court also considers financial contributions by one party to the other's earning capacity, such as when one pays the other's way through medical school. In many states, adultery isn't a pertinent factor in alimony contests, but, regardless of your state's laws on this, it generally pays to be clean from a public relations standpoint.

Courts award two basic types of alimony: permanent, which is theoretically for life, and rehabilitative, designed to get the receiving party fiscally back on his or her feet. Regardless of which type of alimony one is seeking, he or she has to show that the other party "is or easily could be" making far more money. It's not unusual for plaintiffs' to submit lists of want ads for jobs for which the defendant is qualified but conveniently not exploring at the time of trial.

Nor is it unusual for parties paying alimony to seek to have the payments reduced after their ex-spouse marries or develops a relationship with someone of means. The key point to remember when you're seeking to have alimony increased or reduced is that it's difficult if not impossible to get courts to do so retroactively. So every dollar you've missed is irretrievable. If you have new information that would alter the alimony in your favor, get into court quickly, for dawdling could cost you dearly. Keep in mind that courts routinely collect alimony from deadbeats by getting liens on property, garnishing wages or bank accounts, and even jailing the party for being in contempt until he or she comes up with the money.