So the husband and wife want to avoid u201ca long-term marriage 10 year rule clauseu201d by divorcing and then remarrying. Assuming youu2019re in California, this scheme has a lot of problems. There are a lot of ways this wonu2019t work, and worse, the lower-earning spouse will lose a free and often very valuable benefit, derivative Social Security benefits, in the process.There is a presumption in California that a marriage of more than 10 years duration is a u201clengthy marriage,u201d and the court should normally retain jurisdiction, which is a fancy way of saying power, over the issue of spousal support indefinitely, usually meaning until the death of either party or the remarriage of the supported party. But retention of jurisdiction for life doesnu2019t mean spousal support would go on for a lifetime. The duration of permanent spousal support depends on at least 16 factors. In a typical case where parties divorce after, say, 10 or 12 years, support might go on for several years but not at all likely for a lifetime. Depending on your particular circumstances, your mileage may of course vary.But there is also considerable legal authority for a court to make a lifetime spousal support order even when the duration of the marriage is less than 10 years. (One case involved a marriage of only 6 years, 10 months duration, but of course there were unusual facts to support that lifetime judgment.) So you arenu2019t safe from facing a lifetime spousal support order just because you divorce in less than 10 years.Worse, when you turn around and remarry, the court can treat the length of the marriage as the sum of the two marriages, and if they add up to over 10 years, youu2019ve got that presumed lengthy marriage. One case involved a 30+ year marriage. Husband was ordered to pay spousal support to Wife until the death of either party or Wifeu2019s remarriage. So Husband talks the Wife into remarrying him, which ends his spousal support obligation to her. Husband then re-divorces Wife six months later, and Husband says, u201cHey, this is a really short-term marriage so donu2019t order me to pay spousal support.u201d The trial court and the Court of Appeal both said, in so many words, u201cNice try, you manipulative weasel. On these facts the court can add the duration of both marriages together and order you to pay lifetime support to Wife.u201d Okay, actually the courts were more polite than that, but that was their real meaning.But meanwhile, assuming Husband earns more over a lifetime than Wife does, if the parties divorce in less than ten years, Wife loses derivative Social Security benefits. They let Wife get Social Security benefits based on husbandu2019s higher earnings rather than on Wifeu2019s own lower earnings. Derivative Social Security benefits can be very valuable to the lower-earning spouse, andu2014good news for the higher-earning spouse, Husband in my exampleu2023 those derivative benefits donu2019t cost the higher-earning spouse any Social Security benefits. Itu2019s the only true free lunch I know about. So whoever is the lower earning spouse should be very reluctant to agree to get divorced earlier than 10 years from the date of marriage if the spouses really intend to remarry each other.In summary, this scheme to get divorced before the length of the marriage reaches 10 years and then remarried to each other has a lot of flaws and ways that it wonu2019t accomplish what the higher-earning spouse is trying to achieve. Youu2019re better off putting your energy into staying married so that you wonu2019t ever have to pay spousal support in the future.