我國通說實務認為，贍養費有離婚後扶養之性質，且前配偶之贍養義務應優先於親屬間之扶養義務。本文則認為，應將贍養費分為更生性贍養費與永久性贍養費。前者為一時性的經濟援助，用以協助他方取得經濟獨立，安定其離婚後之生活，此時，適合採前配偶贍養說。後者因爲終身扶養，通常扶養期間較長、扶養費總額較高，且他方年老、生病乃自然之現象，不得歸咎於前配偶，因此，要求前配偶獨自背負他方之餘生，而無故免除子女之扶養義務，難謂合理，故應採扶養義務共同分擔說。再者，為使贍養費制度發揮其保障離婚後生活之功能，應刪除現行法中「請求人無過失」及「限於判決離婚始得請求」之要件。至於是否應另外承認補償型離婚給付，乃我國法今後之課題。

According to the general practice in Taiwan, alimony has the nature of spousal support, and a former spouse's support obligation shall prevail over the support obligation for other family members. However, this paper argues that alimony should be divided into temporary alimony and permanent alimony. The former refers to one party (either the husband or the wife) providing temporary economic assistance to the other party in order to help that second party achieve economic independence and live a stable life after divorce. Spousal support should apply to temporary alimony. Permanent alimony denotes lifelong support that involves a cost amount and long-term support. In the case of permanent alimony, as illness is a natural phenomenon and is inevitable in old age, it is unreasonable if either party (whether husband or wife) is thereby blamed and required to be solely responsible for the rest of the other party's life, while that other party is exempted from child-rearing obligations for no reason. In view of the above, both parties (husband and wife) should share the support obligation. Furthermore, to make the alimony system be useful at assuring a proper life after divorce, the essentials of “no fault of the petitioner” and “limited to ruling on the original request for divorce” in current laws should be deleted. The question over whether divorce compensation should be approved or not is left up for discussion in future studies on Taiwan laws.