Maintenance
It is fairly common for one person in a marriage to earn more than the other. Sometimes this difference is so great as to make it fair for one to pay spousal support to the other for a time. Such spousal support is known as maintenance.
The purpose of maintenance is to support the former spouse until he or she is able to support himself or herself. There are a number of complexities in this seemingly simple statement, however. For instance, the question of ability to support oneself is the subject of many a negotiation and a fair number of court hearings. Also, how much can a spouse who has never worked during a very long marriage reasonably be expected to work? And what are the reasonable living expenses which legitimately should be paid?
The statute which defines maintenance is C.R.S. §14-10-114. It defines maintenance during two time frames: temporary maintenance, applicable after a divorce is filed with the court and before the case is finished, and maintenance following divorce. There are some different rules that apply to these.
Temporary maintenance may be decided by a formula, if the combined income of both spouses is $75,000 or less per year. If that is the case, a calculation is performed, subtracting 50% of the lower earning spouses gross monthly income from 40% of the higher earning spouse’s gross monthly income. The difference is the amount of maintenance to be paid. There are some wrinkles in this calculation, which we can describe to you. Also, if the combined incomes are more than $75,000 per year, the formula does not apply, and maintenance is determined as described below.
Maintenance following divorce is not calculated according to the formula. Instead, there are two decisions to be made. First, does the person asking for maintenance need it? This turns on whether he or she makes enough from appropriate employment or income from assets to pay for his or her reasonable needs. If the answer is no, then that person needs maintenance.
The next decision is how much maintenance should be paid for how long? There are a number of factors to consider under the statute, including the length of the marriage, the age and health of the parties, the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage, the ability of the person asked to pay maintenance to meet his or her own needs while meeting those of the person seeking maintenance, and others. As you might guess, there is usually more than one way to look at the situation.
Our job is to help you understand the intricacies of maintenance, and to reach a resolution consistent with your needs.