If you are contemplating a divorce, one of your primary concerns might be how it will affect you financially. Splitting up your assets and establishing 2 separate homes can be expensive. Depending on your situation, a court may also award alimony to the lower-earning spouse.

In Colorado, spousal maintenance is based on an advisory formula that is used in cases where a couple makes under $240,000 per year and has been married for at least 3 years. Our spousal maintenance calculator is an easy way to figure out how much a court might award in alimony, along with the potential length of any alimony award. If you have additional questions about how maintenance might factor into your divorce or legal separation case, our Colorado Springs family law attorneys can help.

At Ascent Legal Group, we take pride in providing strategic legal advice and representation to clients dealing with a range of family law matters, including divorce, legal separation, child custody, and spousal maintenance. We offer free initial consultations so that you can better understand your legal rights in a divorce case. To learn more or to schedule an appointment with a Colorado divorce lawyer, contact our law firm today.

Free Online Spousal Maintenance Calculator

How to Use Our Colorado Spousal Maintenance Calculator

Our spousal maintenance calculator is designed to make it as easy as possible to figure out what alimony might be in your case (whether you would be paying or receiving support).To use it, simply follow these steps:

1. Input the annual adjusted gross income of the higher-earning spouse;
2. Input the annual adjusted gross income of the lower-earning spouse; and
3. Input the number of months married.

This calculator will provide you with the anticipated duration of the maintenance and the formula maintenance amount. 

Remember: the formula that this calculator uses is for marriages of 3 years/36 months or longer and where the parties’ combined annual income is under $240,000. It also is not a guarantee that this is the amount of spousal maintenance that will be awarded. It is only intended to provide you with a general idea of what a maintenance award will likely be based on the Colorado advisory guidelines. You should always consult with a Colorado family law attorney for more specific legal advice based on your unique situation.

When Is Spousal Maintenance Awarded in Colorado?

In Colorado, spousal maintenance (or alimony) is not awarded in every case. Instead, Colorado law provides that spousal maintenance may be appropriate if one spouse needs financial support and the other spouse has the ability to pay support.

To be awarded spousal maintenance, one spouse must request it. It is not automatically awarded in any divorce or legal separation case. It will either be granted by the court or agreed upon as part of a separation agreement.

There are 2 types of spousal maintenance. First, temporary spousal support may be ordered during the divorce process to help the lower-earning spouse handle their immediate expenses. This type of support may be paid until the final divorce or legal separation decree is entered in the case.

Second, long-term or permanent maintenance may be awarded based on the unique facts of a case. Generally, courts will consider a variety of factors to determine if maintenance is appropriate to prevent one spouse from experiencing financial hardship or an alteration to the lifestyle that they enjoyed during marriage. Spousal support may be ordered in a range of cases, such as when:

• A spouse left the workforce or reduced their work hours to care for the children and the home.
• A spouse has a medical and/or mental health condition that may make it difficult or impossible for them to financially support themselves.
• One spouse earns significantly less money than the other spouse, and their share of the marital assets is not sufficient to support themselves.
• A spouse puts their education and/or work goals on hold to support their spouse in their education and/or career.
• The couple has young children or a child with a disability, and a spouse cannot return to work full-time because of their obligation to care for the child or children.
• A spouse is at or past retirement age, which would make it difficult for them to find suitable work.

If a court decides that spousal maintenance is appropriate, it will then determine the amount of monthly spousal maintenance to be paid. It will also decide how long spousal support should be paid based on the length of the marriage. If alimony is an issue in your case, our Colorado Springs divorce attorneys can help you understand your legal rights and obligations.

Calculating Spousal Maintenance in Colorado

Colorado courts must consider a range of factors when determining maintenance awards. The goal is to ensure that any alimony award is fair and equitable while ensuring that these awards are consistent. Each spousal support case is decided on a case-by-case basis after considering:

• The total gross income of both spouses;
• Each spouse’s fair and equitable portion of the marital assets;
• Each spouse’s financial resources, such as potential income from their share of the marital property;
• Reasonable financial need based on the accustomed lifestyle of the spouses during the marriage; and
• The tax implications of spousal support for both the paying spouse and the recipient of spousal support.

Courts will also consider the length of the marriage when determining the duration of alimony.

Colorado courts use a formula in cases where the parties’ combined incomes are $240,000 a year or less. These maintenance guidelines are advisory, not mandatory. However, they are a good starting point to determine what an alimony award might look like in your case. 

For taxable spousal maintenance, the basic formula is 40% of the spouses’ combined adjusted gross income (AGI) minus the lower income spouse’s AGI. Our spousal maintenance calculator uses this formula to help you figure out what you might receive or pay in alimony each month based on your and your soon-to-be ex’s combined incomes.

Calculation Example

For example, consider a situation where Jeff and Carolyn are divorcing. Carolyn earns $9,000 a month, and Jeff earns $5,000 a month. Their combined income is $14,000 a month, so they fall within the advisory maintenance guidelines. This amount is then multiplied by 40% to get $5,600. Jeff’s monthly income of $5,000 is then subtracted from this amount to get $600 a month in spousal maintenance. 

There is an additional consideration for cases where the spousal maintenance is not taxable. If the alimony won’t be taxed, then a multiplier is applied against this formula. The multiplier is 80% in cases where the spouses’ combined monthly income is $10,000 or less and 75% if the parties’ combined income is over $10,000. In the example above, $600 would be multiplied by 75% to get $450. Under this rule, since Jeff won’t be paying taxes on his alimony, he would get $450 a month instead of $600.

The formula is set up so that maintenance is only appropriate in situations where there is a larger disparity in income between the spouses. If you make fairly equal salaries, then neither spouse is likely to pay spousal support. For example, if Nick makes $6,000 a month and Deb makes $4,000 a month, their total monthly income of $10,000 would be multiplied by 40% to get $4,000. When Deb’s monthly income of $4,000 is subtracted from this amount, the maintenance award would be $0.

Keep in mind formula is just a jumping off point to determine spousal maintenance. The exact amount awarded will depend on the judge, although most awards fall within the ballpark of the guideline amount.. The court may use it to estimate alimony and then alter it based on the facts of the case. Usually, any change to the formula amount is for less money.

When The Formula Is Used

If your combined annual income is over $240,000 a year, then the formula does not apply. Instead, the court will likely lean heavily on the factors outlined in the Colorado spousal maintenance statute to determine an appropriate spousal maintenance award.

The maintenance formula also only applies to marriages of 3 years or longer. In most cases, spousal maintenance isn’t awarded for shorter marriages (although it is possible in certain situations).  If you have been married for 3 years or longer at the time of your divorce, there is a separate advisory guideline for the duration of maintenance. 

Calculating The Duration Of Maintenance

Under Colorado law, for marriages from 3 to 20 years, a multiplier is applied to the length of the marriage to determine duration. It starts at 31% and increases by 0.165% for each month of marriage to a cap of 50% for 150 months of marriage. For example, if you were married for 14 years, then the spousal maintenance award would be for a maximum of 50% or 7 years (84 months). 

For marriages of over 20 years, there is no set formula for the courts to follow. Instead, the maintenance statute provides that the length of alimony should not be for less than a 20-year marriage (10 years) unless the court makes specific findings to support a reduced term. While maintenance awards usually are not permanent, they might be for a considerable amount of time for longer marriages.

Arriving At Your Own Maintenance Agreement

As a final note, it is possible to negotiate an entirely different spousal maintenance amount and term through a separation agreement. While these agreements are still subject to court approval, you and your ex can decide for yourselves how you want to handle alimony rather than letting a judge make the award. Our Colorado Springs divorce attorneys can help you negotiate and draft a settlement agreement that covers all the major issues in your case, including property division, child custody, and spousal support. 

Help for Colorado Couples Considering Divorce

Even in the best of situations, the divorce process can be incredibly stressful. There is a lot of uncertainty in any divorce, which is often accompanied by the same acrimony that may have led to the breakdown of your marriage. Our goal is to help our clients get the best possible outcome while minimizing their stress and worry about the process.

Ascent Legal Group offers compassionate, experienced legal representation to Coloradoans going through divorce or facing other family law matters. We are skilled at helping our clients resolve their family law matters in a way that achieves their goals. To learn more or to schedule a free initial consultation with a Colorado Springs family law attorney, reach out to our law offices today.