fair financial resolution

Determination of Spousal Maintenance or Alimony in Colorado

Several factors determine spousal maintenance or alimony in Colorado. Being knowledgeable in this matter may prove very helpful in your alimony case. We have experienced attorneys that can help you traverse the legal system to arrive at a fair financial resolution.

What are the Types of Alimony in Colorado?

Before paying alimony to your spouse, it may be helpful to know the different types of payments. Courts in Colorado acknowledge various kinds of alimony in any given divorce proceeding. They include:

Temporary Alimony

Temporary alimony is the financial support you must accord your spouse upon divorcing them. It is the court’s understanding that upon the separation of couples, they seize sharing their earnings. If one spouse was the sole family provider, equally splitting incomes during the divorce could be unfair for them. Thus, the spouse requesting alimony may ask the court to order the spouse with the more financial stability to assist financially until the Judge finalizes the divorce.

Rehabilitative Support

This type of support is the most typical type of alimony in Colorado. It aims to ensure that the spouse getting paid more provides financial support to the one with a lower income. During this time, the not-so-abled spouse will undergo career training or get crucial job skills. These will enable them to look for work and become self-sufficient.

Reimbursement Support

This type of support involves scenarios where one spouse gets payment for the other’s schooling or work training in their ongoing marriage. Upon marriage, both spouses stand to gain from training advancements. After divorcing, the only person entitled to these benefits is the training recipient. If appropriate, as per the court, the recipient will reimburse the other spouse through alimony payments.

Permanent Support

The most acute divorce scenarios usually call for permanent spousal support. Some factors that may bring about permanent support include old age, sickness, being disabled, or if one partner fails to be self-sufficient. This type of support could go on for an indefinite period, but it rarely happens. The Judge will determine when the spousal maintenance should come to an end.

Qualification and Amount of Alimony in Colorado

Colorado’s courts also regard the following factors when determining the qualifications for alimony:

  • Financial resources of each spouse, including the actual or potential income from other marital property
  • The ability of the paying spouse to meet the financial needs of both parties
  • The lifestyle of the partner while married
  • Distribution of property after the divorce
  • Earnings of both parties, and whether they have jobs or not
  • Duration of the marriage
  • Amount of non-permanent support and the time this support took while the divorce proceedings were still ongoing
  • Both spouses’ ages and health, including whether each of the parties has medical insurance or incurs health care expenses that have not been reimbursed 
  • If either spouse played a role in the other’s advancements either economically, educationally, or occupationally

How to Modify or Terminate Alimony in Colorado

Even a permanent spousal maintenance support award may not be necessarily permanent in Colorado. The court can modify a permanent spousal support award if a substantial change in circumstances demands so. Specifically, it is possible to modify an alimony award if there is a significant increase in the income of the spouse getting support or a decrease in their financial needs.

Some cases will see an automatic termination of a support award if the recipient spouse remarries, cohabitates with other intimate partners, or dies. If you wish to have modifications to your alimony, you will first be required to fill out the ‘Order to Modify or Terminate Maintenance’ form. 

Do You Need Help with Your Alimony Case? Contact The Brown Law Firm LLC!

If you have any further questions about alimony obligations in Colorado, please contact us today. Our experienced criminal defense attorneys at The Brown Law Firm, LLC can help you traverse the legal system to arrive at a fair financial resolution that would suit your unique situation! You can also visit our firm’s offices in Steamboat Springs, Colorado for further inquiries!