Hello smart people. My wife told me she wanted a divorce about a month ago and has signed a lease on a new apartment. Things are civil between us and she doesn’t want me to lose the house as it is a family home. We have 3 children and plan to do 50/50 custody. I have a steady job with decent pay and she is a stay at home mom with a couple ok money streams on the side but not enough to support herself. She doesn’t want to divorce right now for whatever reason. I want to start paying alimony now so she can move out to a decent place for the kids without throwing money away.

Finally the question: could I write up a contract that the money I pay her before the divorce will apply to future alimony? Would such a thing hold up in court if things got nasty? What would it have to include to be proper?

Thank you all in advance!