How Long Do You Have To Pay Alimony In Colorado?
How long a person must pay alimony (maintenance) is based in large part on how long the marriage lasted. Colorado legislators developed guidelines to help judges determine how much alimony should be paid and for how long.
However, the guidelines are not mandatory and judges still retain discretion when it comes to the duration of maintenance payments. In situations that don’t fall within the parameters of the guidelines, there is wide latitude in determining the amount and length of time alimony is to be paid.
Colorado Maintenance Guidelines Don’t Apply to High-Income Divorces
When determining the amount and duration of spousal maintenance, the guiding directive is that the decision be fair and equitable to both parties. The maintenance guidelines are just guidelines. Circumstances other than the length of marriage and income earned may indicate a result outside the guidelines is more appropriate.
The Advisory Maintenance Guidelines only apply when couples have been married for at least 3 years but no more than 20 years. The guidelines are also limited to partners whose combined gross annual income is $240,000 or less.
The maintenance amount is to be calculated by subtracting the lower monthly income from 40% of the combined monthly income. The duration of payments is determined by multiplying the months married by a percentage to arrive at the number of months of alimony payments.
For example, let’s say partners have been married for 144 months. One has a monthly income of $100 and the other has a monthly income of $500. 40% of $600 is $240. Subtracting the lower monthly income figure leaves a monthly maintenance payment of $140. 49% is the multiplier for couples married 144 months resulting in a payment duration of 71 months.
What Happens When Divorcing Couples Fall Outside the Guidelines for Maintenance
When couples have a combined gross annual income above the current maximum allowed amount maintenance awards are left to the discretion of the court and based more on individual circumstances.
For couples married longer than 20 years the duration of maintenance payments is more likely to be for the life of the receiving spouse. If the maintenance award is for a specified number of months, it cannot be any shorter than the duration specified in the guidelines for a 20-year marriage (120 months).
How Alimony Payments Can be Terminated
Maintenance payments automatically terminate when either spouse dies or the receiving spouse remarries. Most maintenance orders can also be modified when the financial circumstances of either spouse change substantially. When the court has jurisdiction over the maintenance order, a judge can order the termination of alimony when it is no longer fair to require continued payments.
Compassionate Family Law Attorneys that Can Help
Going through a divorce is challenging for the best among us. It can be hard to sort out what is needed now and make good decisions for a family going forward. Maintenance payments can help a lower-income or non-working spouse make ends meet until they can become financially independent.
Though fair at the time of divorce, circumstances can change over time and an initial alimony order may no longer be fair to both parties. A Broomfield alimony lawyer can determine if changed circumstances are sufficient to qualify for modification or termination of alimony payments.