We use the word maintenance rather than alimony income in Colorado because it is need based, not punishment based or anything else. During the process, you have to show that you have a need for maintenance or alimony. This is awarded based upon your need and your ex-spouses’ ability to pay. There’s a formula used to calculate the amount of maintenance income in Colorado. The court recognizes that you have a need and uses the formula to determine how much money you would receive.
The amount you receive is dependent on how long you were married. The duration that you receive maintenance can be calculated between a third of your marital time to half of the time you were married. The maintenance income amount is based on 40% of the higher income party’s monthly adjusted gross income minus 50% of the lower income party’s monthly adjusted gross income. What happens when you get that money? Well, it is different than getting money for child support or getting money because of a property settlement where you split the money.
What that does, is gives us a negotiation point when we’re determining a settlement for you in a case. You may be better off getting a larger property settlement instead of maintenance paid out over many months. It really depends on your individual situation, what kind of money we’re dealing with and whether or not maintenance is something that should be in paid along with the property settlement.
There are many different possibilities. The point is, if alimony or maintenance income becomes an issue for you, we’ll make sure that we look into that absolutely and completely so that your settlement is the best settlement possible.
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