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Financial concerns during and after a divorce are common. For example, you might be wondering if you will receive alimony in your divorce case. Since courts have guidelines and not mandates, it’s critical to work with an attorney to ensure you get what you deserve.

Divorces are often complex, with many decisions that need to be made. Assets must be separated, and child support will need to be calculated if the couple has children. While child support helps provide for the care of minor children, alimony helps provide for one spouse.

The court’s goal is to ensure that each spouse maintains the lifestyle they were accustomed to during the marriage. It is also to ensure that each spouse receives what is equitable and can establish financial independence after the divorce. For some spouses, this will mean paying alimony, or maintenance, to the other spouse. Suppose you think you should receive maintenance payments. In that case, it’s a good idea to reach out to experienced Aurora alimony lawyers who can help.

Alimony Eligibility

Alimony guidelines under Colorado law typically only apply if the couple’s combined annual gross earnings are $360,000 or less. There are also guidelines about the duration of alimony payments for marriages that lasted between three and 20 years. For couples married longer than 20 years, the court is allowed more discretion, including awarding indefinite maintenance and requiring an agreement between the spouses or a court order to stop maintenance payments. Your Aurora alimony lawyers can help you understand which guidelines apply to your case and how long you might receive alimony.

How Colorado Family Courts Determine Alimony

Legislative guidelines direct family courts as to when maintenance should be awarded, how much should be awarded, and how long it should last. Keep in mind that they are only guidelines. The courts can use several factors when determining maintenance awards. They might include:

• The financial resources of each spouse
• The lifestyle the marriage provided each spouse
• How the marital property will be divided
• Each spouse’s employment and employability
• Each spouse’s current health and age
• Significant economic and noneconomic contributions each spouse made to the marriage—for example, staying home with children while the other spouse advanced their career

Based on the legal guidelines and previous experience with local courts, Aurora alimony attorneys can help you determine if you might receive maintenance and how much it might be. To determine how much maintenance should be paid, the courts apply a formula based on the couple’s annual income. The total award is capped at 40 percent of the couple’s combined yearly gross earnings.

Courts can award temporary maintenance to a spouse who earns less than the other spouse for use during the divorce proceedings. However, temporary maintenance may have no impact on the permanent award at the end of the divorce case.

Call the Seasoned Aurora Alimony Lawyers Today

Alimony is often a contentious subject in divorce, but that shouldn’t keep you from pursuing what you deserve. Aurora alimony lawyers can help you on this journey. Call the CNL Law Firm, PLLC, at (720) 370-2171 or complete our online form to receive your case review today.