Alimony laws in NY

What is the name of your state? New York

My husband is threatening to make me pay him alimony by obtaining a divorce in which he will tell lies to find me at fault for the divorce. Is this possible in NY state? I thought it was hard for a woman to get spousal support, let alone a man. We have no children together, however, I have two from a previous marriage still living with me...one is getting ready for college in the fall. I just recieved my teaching certification after going back to school and do not have a perm job yet...I sub (on call) for 80 dollars a day. He is recieving VA benefits (which he does not deserve) and does not have to work because he receives almost thirty thousand a year to do nothing. Now he says that because I am marketable for a job, and he is a "disabled vet" that his lawyer told him he could get money from me. We have only been married four and a half years, the past two years we have not been living together because he is verbally and mentally controlling and abusive, but there has been no legal separation in force. I was the one who moved out and have been supporting myself and my dependents since then. Is this threat of alimony possible or is he still trying to play mind games with me? What options do I have now? Please help me!

Either spouse may be awarded maintenance, without regard to marital fault, based on a consideration of the following factors:

(1) the income and property of the spouses, including any marital property divided as a result of the dissolution of marriage;

(2) any transfer of property made in anticipation of divorce;

(3) the duration of the marriage;

(4) the wasteful dissipation of marital property;

(5) the contribution of each spouse to the marriage and the career of the other spouse, including services rendered in homemaking, child care, education, and career building of the other spouse;

(6) the tax consequences to each spouse;

(7) any custodial and child support responsibilities;

(8) the ability of the spouse seeking support to become self-supporting and the time and training necessary;

(9) any reduced lifetime earning capacity as the result of having foregone or delayed education, training, employment, or career opportunities during the marriage;

(10) whether the spouse from whom maintenance is sought has sufficient property and income to provide maintenance for the other spouse; and

(11) any other factor the court deems just and equitable.

[Consolidated Laws of New York Annotated; Domestic Relations Law, Volume 8, Section 236, Part B].

He could very well be getting what's called in New York "Maintenance" depending on the specifics of your case which we can't pretend to know.

There is property involved that he has lived on for twenty years and refinanced when we got married in both our names...he was not able to refinance on his own income (which was not the benefits he receives now). I made four times more a month than he did, so he used that for the refinancing. The loan is still in both our names but he tricked me into signing off the deed last year. Now I have the loan liability, which he never pays on time, that is ruining my credit...I just found that out because I tried to finance a used car to get to work. Other than that...all the furniture that I have was purchased before we ever met and I have receipts to prove that. He has his own stuff anyway, so I don't think that will be an issue. Now that I am not on the deed for the property, I probably have no recourse to get him to refinance and get me out of that indefinite liability. That is all I want from him, other than a divorce.
Right now, I make less than twelve thousand a year...and I have dependents to take care of. He has a set income of thirty thousand with no dependents. If I land a permanent teaching position, (which doesn't look promising with all the Education cuts statewide) I will probably start out at twenty eight to thirty a year, depending on the school district I get into up here in northern, and central NY.
Shortly after our marriage, I was laid off, but he did not want me to pursue a career in that capacity anymore because my duties included traveling out of town and he was no longer happy about that fact. The company I worked for wanted me to go to S. Carolina for my next assignment, but he refused to agree to that so, I took the lay off instead. I tried to find a job that would keep me closer to home without success. My unemployment was running out and I went back to school to become a teacher...(which I started years ago and never could finish with my career). All of my excess financial aid and student loans went back into the household, plus I took care of the cooking, cleaning, laundry and everything else in the household and I worked part time cleaning houses for other people too!
After he was awarded his appeals on 100% VA benefits, (he hurt his back playing frisbee on leave and went back and said he did it on duty!) I had VA benefits available to me for my schooling as well. None of this was out of pocket expenses for him...in fact the benefits I got from the VA reduced my financial aid eligibility and still, all the excess went back into the household until I had to leave because he would start drinking and become abusive to myself and my children. Over the past two years we have gone back and forth trying to work things out, he would apologize and say he will change, and take me out or come over and shmooze me for a while, but I started noticing too late that it was always at or around the time I was expecting a financial aid or student loan refund, which he would suggest plans for, and I would fall for it because I wanted things to work, then after the money was gone and I was broke again, he started his same old behavior and of course we would break up again. Well, now that you know my story...what do you think his chances are?