I Haven’t Worked in Years; How Will This Impact My Alimony Award?

Alimony in Colorado is also known as spousal maintenance. A judge has the right to authorize short-term or long-term payments to one spouse from another during a divorce proceeding in a period manner. While it is becoming more rare for a permanent alimony award to be handed down in a divorce proceeding, if you are a spouse who has not worked in years and are concerned about your ability to support yourself, spousal maintenance is likely a key concern for you and one you should discuss early.

For the most part, permanent alimony is usually only awarded in situations where one spouse has very poor employment prospects due to advanced age or poor health. If the combined gross income of the couple is less than $75,000, the courts use a formula to determine whether one spouse is eligible for temporary maintenance.

In order for a lower-earning spouse to receive permanent maintenance, the judge reviews several factors. The court must determine that the spouse seeking the maintenance lacks the ability to be self-supporting through employment or that he or she is responsible for caring for a child whose current medical condition or situation requires that the spouse put off employment. The court must also find that the spouse seeking the maintenance lacks sufficient property (and this may include marital property) to help provide for basic needs.

A court that find these factors to be true has the authority to make a maintenance award in any amount they deem fair. Other factors review can include the length of the marriage, the standard of living created during the marriage, the financial resources available to the spouse seeking the maintenance, and the future earning capacity of the spouse seeking the maintenance award.

Leave a Reply