Spouses who agree to take turns supporting each other through college could find themselves financially liable for breaking a contract if they divorce before both sides benefit.

The state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a divorceé can sue her ex-husband after she financially supported him through medical school "in exchange for the promise of a higher standard of living."

Gloria and Dallen Ashby married in 1997, while Dallen was an undergraduate student at BYU. Gloria Ashby claims she passed up a lucrative business opportunity to follow Dallen to St. Louis, where he attended medical school, according to court documents.

Gloria Ashby's job as an interior designer paid for the couple's living expenses -- an arrangement she agreed to because Dallen promised to support "her at a certain level with the income he would earn as the holder of a medical degree," the court wrote.

When she divorced him during his one-year internship in St. Louis in 2005 and did not enjoy his income as a doctor, she claimed Dallen Ashby breached the couple's "student support contract."

The court decided 3-0 that such a contract is enforceable, and a spouse can try to collect on it apart from whatever alimony a court awards.