Alimony certainly rebuts the “she gave [del]sold[/del] you the best years of her life” argument.
We just had a long thread talking about all the reasonsthat marriage results in greater wealth. Functioning as a single economic unit has huge advantages for both people, in terms of specialization and risk-taking and building equity. It’s still as much an economic union as a sentimental one. It’s an intensely complex economic process, and you can’t just preemptively predict everything in a contract that will somehow deal with any eventuality over 50 years. (This is why SSM could not be replicated with a legal contract.)
Basically, making marriage a “caveat emptor” sort of situation would prohibit people from specializing, from investing in an economic partnership. It would reduce the over all productivity of society, as everyone was restricted to building a career that was at all points in its progression self-supporting.
Divorce laws vary by state.
In Texas, there is only alimony pendente lite; that is, possible temporary support until the divorce is final. We’re a community property state, though. So any property or money accrued during the marriage will be divided equally at divorce. Which can be how divorce lawyers get rich. And why prenuptial agreements are made…
Child support is a whole other thing.