Family Law

Maintenance Payments

Maintenance (formerly known as alimony) may be awarded to one spouse when a marriage is dissolved if the spouse is unable to meet his or her own reasonable needs by him or herself.  In deciding this question, the court looks at the following factors:

1. The financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance, including marital property apportioned to the spouse during the divorce, the spouse's ability to meet his or her reasonable needs independently, including the extent to which a provision for support of a child living with the spouse includes a sum for that spouse;

2. The time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the spouse seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment and that spouse's future earning capacity;

3. The standard of living established during the marriage;

4. The duration of the marriage;

5. The age and the physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance; and

6. The ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet his or her needs while meeting those of the spouse seeking maintenance.

Realize that each court might interpret these guidelines a little differently and that there is no set formula for deciding who gets permanent maintenance, what amount is appropriate, or for how long a spouse should receive maintenance. In some cases, the court may award a maintenance amount to ensure that both spouses can pay their reasonable monthly necessities for a period of time. In some cases, the court may award maintenance when a spouse has become accustomed to a certain standard of living, regardless of "necessities." Whether or not one spouse is raising children can be a factor. However, each situation is different and each court may interpret the facts differently.

Maintenance before the divorce is final

A spouse may need financial assistance while the divorce is pending. If the spouses have a combined gross income of $75,000 or less, Colorado statutes provide for a rebuttable presumption in favor of a specific award of temporary maintenance.  Under Colorado statute, temporary maintenance is calculated as follows:  40% x adjusted gross income of higher earning spouse minus 50% x the adjusted gross income of the lower earning spouse.  If the result of the calculation is zero or negative, the presumption is temporary maintenance shall not be awarded. If the result is more than zero, that amount shall be the amount of the monthly temporary maintenance.

Modifying maintenance

When one party is ordered to pay maintenance to another party, the amount ordered can subsequently be modified upon a showing of changed circumstances so substantial and continuing as to make the terms of the existing maintenance award unfair.  However, parties may agree during their divorce that maintenance is non-modifiable, in which case the court will not modify maintenance even if there are changed circumstances.