What You Should Know about Spousal Support in Colorado Divorce (Pt. 1)

Spousal support – which may also be referred to as alimony or spousal maintenance – can be a highly contentious aspect of many divorce cases. From requesting this support to determining the amount and duration of these payments, spousal support can engender a lot of touchy issues that may bring even the most straightforward divorce cases into dispute.

In this blog series, we will highlight some important facts to know about spousal support in Colorado divorce. Keep in mind that:

• All of the info discussed in this blog series has been purposely presented to be general in nature.
• You can get specific information related to your situation by contacting a Littleton divorce attorney at Bahr and Kreidle today.

Spousal Support in Colorado Divorce: Here Are Some Facts You Need to Know…

Fact 1 – The court will usually approve any agreements that divorcing couples can work out on their own.

In any divorce case, it’s always ideal for separating couples to be able to come to a mutual agreement about the issues of the divorce, including any issues regarding whether spousal support should be paid and, if so, how much and for how long these payments should last. As long as these agreements appear to be fair, the court will usually uphold them and only focus on the disputed issues of the divorce.

Here, it’s crucial to point out that, even if couples are able to work together and they believe that they have worked out a favorable agreement regarding spousal support in their divorce, having an attorney oversee this agreement can be pivotal to ensuring that:

• Each parties’ best interests are protected with the proposed agreement.
• Any unforeseen issues are resolved or dealt with as part of the agreement.

Fact 2 – The court uses a very specific formula to determine eligibility for spousal support in Colorado divorce.

When couples cannot come to an agreement regarding spousal support in Colorado divorce and the courts are left to resolve this issue, a very specific formula will be used to first evaluate whether a request for alimony is valid (in other words, whether the party making the request for spousal maintenance is, in fact, eligible for these payments).

This complicated formula takes a number of different factors into consideration, with only some of these being:

• The couple’s combined annual income
• Whether either party in the couple already is paying spousal support (due to a previous marriage) and/or will be paying child support (as part of the current divorce case).

When determining eligibility for long-term spousal support in Colorado divorce, the court will also assess whether one party in the divorce has (or lacks) adequate means to support him or herself now and in the future.

We will resume our discussion regarding the facts about spousal support in Colorado divorce in a few additional parts of this blog series that will be posted soon – make sure you look for them!

Littleton, Colorado Personal Injury Lawyers at Bahr and Kreidle

Will spousal support be an issue in your impending divorce? If so, you can rely on the trusted Littleton divorce lawyers at Barh & Kreidle.

Set up a free, no obligations initial consultation with us today. To set up a meeting, call us at (303) 794-7422, or email us using the form on this page.

From our law offices in Littleton, we represent clients throughout Colorado, including in the Denver Metro Area, Arapahoe County, Adams County, Jefferson County and the cities of Lakewood, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Castle Rock, Westminster, Centennial and Aurora.