Take The First Step To Understanding Spousal Support
In Colorado, spousal support (sometimes called alimony) is known as maintenance. Maintenance, ordinarily speaking, is a payment by one spouse to the other after (or during) a divorce. Maintenance is not automatically awarded, nor is it gender-based. It is often awarded as a source of financial assistance while the spouse with the lesser income transitions to self-support after the divorce.
While spouses may come to a maintenance agreement on their own, one of two methods usually applies if the court is asked to make the determination.
For couples who have been married fewer than three years, those who have been married longer than 20 years, and those couples with a combined gross income of in excess of $240,000, the court decides the amount based on equitable distribution – basically, a fair division.
For those couples who have been married at least three years and have a combined income of less than $360,000, Colorado uses a formula to help determine spousal support. This calculation begins by, as an American Bar Association analysis explains, “subtracting a percentage of the recipient’s gross income from a percentage of the payor’s gross income, but the percentages vary.”
Other important determining factors include (but are not limited to):
- The amount of each party’s gross income
- The marital property apportioned to each party
- The financial resources of each party, including but not limited to the actual or potential income from separate or marital property
- Reasonable financial need as established during the marriage and
- Whether maintenance awarded pursuant to this section would be deductible for federal income tax purposes by the payor and taxable income to the recipient.
The Colorado court websites offer worksheets and a calculator to help calculate maintenance using the Colorado formula.
In most cases, maintenance is not permanent, and it is structured in a way to help the recipient spouse to become self-supportive. Maintenance frequently terminates following remarriage of the recipient spouse, if this occurs before the agreed-upon termination of support.
Contact a Colorado Spousal Support Lawyer Today
As a respected local law firm, we can create a plan to help you part ways as seamlessly as possible. No detail will be overlooked in your case. You do not have to work through the maintenance (alimony) process without the advice of a seasoned family law attorney. Call (303) 797-2900 or complete our contact form to request a consultation.