What Is Spousal Maintenance?

What Is Spousal Maintenance?

During a divorce proceeding, a judge may order one spouse to pay another spouse money to help support them. This is referred to as “spousal maintenance” or “alimony.” However, a judge is not required to order spousal maintenance.

How Does a Spouse Get Maintenance?

When deciding whether or not to order a spouse to pay spousal maintenance, a judge will consider several things:

• Income and property of each spouse, including marital and non-marital property
• Each spouse’s needs
• Each spouse’s current and future earning capacity
• Time spent doing household and child-care duties
• Time and money needed to get a job, education, or necessary training
• Sources of public and private income
• Length of marriage
• Lifestyle during the marriage
• The child custody arrangement
• Any other agreement the spouses created

It is important to note that a judge will not require a spouse to pay maintenance based on infidelity, or how else they treated a spouse during marriage.

Calculating Maintenance

When determining how much maintenance a spouse must pay, judge’s use a formula that takes into account both spouse’s net yearly income and deduct other support obligations, including child support payments.

Spousal support cannot cause one spouse to earn more than 40% of the spouse’s combined income. There are other limitations to this calculation if one spouse is paying child support and/or maintenance from a previous marriage.

How Long Will a Spouse Receive Maintenance?

Maintenance depends on the length of the marriage. The duration of maintenance determined by the length of the marriage at the time the action commenced multiplied by a certain figure, as provided below. 

• Marriage less than 5 years = Length of marriage X 0.20
• Marriage 5 years or more but less than 6 years = Length of Marriage X .24
• Marriage 6 years or more but less than 7 years = Length of Marriage X .28
• Marriage 7 years or more but less than 8 years = Length of Marriage X .32
• Marriage 8 years or more but less than 9 years = Length of Marriage X .36
• Marriage 9 years or more but less than 10 years = Length of Marriage X .40
• Marriage 10 years or more but less than 11 years = Length of Marriage X .44
• Marriage 11 years or more but less than 12 years = Length of Marriage X .48
• Marriage 12 years or more but less than 13 years = Length of Marriage X .52
• Marriage 13 years or more but less than 14 years = Length of Marriage X .56
• Marriage 14 years or more but less than 15 years = Length of Marriage X .60
• Marriage 15 years or more but less than 16 years = Length of Marriage X .64
• Marriage 16 years or more but less than 17 years = Length of Marriage X .68
• Marriage 17 years or more but less than 18 years = Length of Marriage X .72
• Marriage 18 years or more but less than 19 years = Length of Marriage X .76
• Marriage 19 years or more but less than 20 years = Length of Marriage X .80
• For a marriage of 20 or more years, the court, in its discretion, shall order maintenance for a period equal to the length of the marriage or for an indefinite term.

Getting a divorce can be a huge financial burden, especially if one spouse had been supporting the other throughout a marriage. If you are entitled to maintenance, or if you are worried you might need to pay maintenance, the attorneys at Lafata Law can help. To schedule a consultation, call our office at 630-481-6633.