Does a spousal support order made during someone's life automatically bind their estate after they die?

Not automatically. A spousal support order made while someone was alive doesn't, by default, continue against their estate after death unless the order itself, or a domestic contract between the parties, specifically says it survives death. Support orders and agreements can be written to expressly bind the payor's estate, to end on death, or to be silent on the question entirely — and what happens next depends heavily on that specific wording rather than on any single automatic rule.

Where an order or agreement is silent, or was framed only as ongoing periodic support tied to the payor's life, it commonly doesn't automatically survive them, but this is genuinely fact- and order-specific, and a recipient shouldn't assume either outcome without checking the actual document. Separately, a person owed support who also qualifies as a dependant under Part V of the SLRA may be able to bring a fresh dependant support claim against the estate regardless of what the original order says. Anyone relying on an existing support order after the payor's death should get legal advice to confirm whether that order survives, and if not, what other options remain available.