Can I get maintenance or alimony? Will I have to pay maintenance or alimony?

Maintenance, or “alimony”, is awarded when the recipient is unable to meet his or her own reasonable needs through employment or other financial resources, and the other spouse is capable of paying maintenance.  Specifically, you can potentially recover maintenance if:

1. You lack sufficient property, including marital property apportioned to you, to provide for your reasonable needs; and 

2. You are unable to support yourself through appropriate employment or are the custodian of a child whose condition or circumstances make it appropriate that you not be required to seek employment outside of the home.

What if my marriage was very short?

Getting divorced after a very short marriage usually results in no award of maintenance.  Exceptions apply. 

One common exception is when one spouse gives up a career to have children or relocate.  If a spouse earning a lucrative income abandons that source of income in order to care for children of the parties that parent will be more likely to recover maintenance.  Similarly, if one spouse abandons a job to relocate for the financial benefit of the other spouse, the spouse abandoning his or her source of employment may have a better chance of recovering maintenance. 

During a marriage of short duration one spouse may suffer a terrible injury or becomes severely disabled.  If that spouse suddenly becomes unable to support himself or herself due to a medical issue, he or she may have a legitimate chance of receiving maintenance.

How much maintenance can I get or how much will I need to pay?

As of 2020 the Missouri legislature had not developed a formula for determining whether a person is entitled to maintenance and, if so, how much.  Outcomes vary from county to county, and even from one judge to another within the same county.

How easy is it to modify maintenance?

The answer to this question depends on about twenty or more factors.  First, a judgment awarding maintenance must state whether the award is modifiable or non-modifiable.  Most maintenance awards are modifiable. 

If your award of maintenance is modifiable, consider whether the recipient is seeking to become self-supporting.  Consider how much time has elapsed since the date of the original award.  Has the payor’s (person paying maintenance) income decreased?  Has the payee’s (recipient’s) income increased?  Has the recipient turned down job offers?