Maintenance

Steve Scott

Attorney at Law

Serving Landlords, Individuals
and Small Businesses

Vanessa Reynolds

Legal Assistant

Maintenance

Spousal maintenance (formerly called "alimony") is designed to provide financial support for a former spouse.

In Missouri the general presumption is that it is not appropriate to award maintenance to a spouse who is capable of supporting herself or himself, the objective being to sever as many ties as possible between the former spouses.

The most common situations in which maintenance is awarded are:

	A spouse has been a homemaker for all or most of the marriage and has no readily available employment prospects
	A spouse has a physical or mental health condition that limits or prohibits employment.
	A spouse has custody of young children that makes employment outside the home inappropriate or impossible under the circumstances.

It is possible for maintenance to be awarded for a limited period of time to allow the receiving spouse an opportunity to obtain education or job training and become self-sufficient.

Maintenance generally terminates upon the death or remarriage of the receiving former spouse. It can also terminate upon the death of the paying former spouse, but there can be circumstances under which the estate of the paying spouse could remain liable for continuing payment of maintenance.

Missouri statutes direct the court to order maintenance only if the court finds that the spouse seeking maintenance:

	Lacks sufficient property, including marital property apportioned to him or her, to provide for his or her reasonable needs, and
	Is unable to support himself or herself through appropriate employment or is the custodian of a child or children whose condition or circumstances make it appropriate that the custodian not be required to seek employment outside the home.

The statutory factors the court is directed to consider in deciding the amount of maintenance to be paid are as follows:

	The financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance, including marital property apportioned to him or her, and his or her ability to meet his or her needs independently, including the extent to which a provision for support of a child living with the spouse includes a sum for that party as custodian
	The time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment
	The comparative earning capacity of each spouse
	The standard of living established during the marriage
	The parties' obligations and assets, including the marital property apportioned to the requesting spouse and the separate property of each spouse
	The duration of the marriage
	The age and physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance
	The ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet his or her needs while meeting those of the spouse seeking maintenance
	The conduct of the parties during the marriage
	Any other relevant factors

As with most other issues in dissolution cases, the parties can agree whether or not maintenance is to be paid, and, if so, can set the amount and duration of the payments. The court will approve the parties’ agreement on maintenance unless it is manifestly unfair to one or both.

In general, maintenance is deductible on the paying spouse's income tax returns and taxable as ordinary income on the receiving spouse's returns. However, this general rule can be modified by agreement or court order.

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