What is Palimony?

The term palimony is one that for quite awhile was thrown around in celebrity gossip rags, but has since died out a little bit. It’s a combination of “pal” and “alimony,” and refers to an alimony-like payment to someone you were in a long-term relationship with but never married. Putting it simply: if you were living with a woman for many years and had promised to support her, she could try to sue you for palimony if the relationship ended.

Establishing palimony is a lot more difficult than establishing alimony. In a marriage, there’s an implicit contract which both parties agreed to when they tied the knot. The spouses promised to love, honor, and support one another. There’s an obligation, both personal and financial, and it may not necessarily end when the marriage itself does. In these situations, one partner may be required to pay alimony to the other.

Palimony, though, is a more complicated situation, since there’s no contract between the partners. The first known use of the word was in conjunction with a suit a former girlfriend of movie star Lee Marvin brought against the actor, alleging that he had promised to support her for the rest of her life. But that’s just it: all she could do was make the allegation. There was no hard proof that this obligation had been made. And without that proof, there’s not much of a case.

Contact Us

If you’d like more information about palimony, or other aspects of divorce and family law, contact the San Jose divorce lawyers at the Law Office of Daniel Jensen by calling 408-296-4100.