Spousal Maintenance

Spousal maintenance, also known as alimony, is either a temporary or permanent payment, usually made monthly or bi-monthly, by one spouse to the other to help that spouse meet his/her living expenses. Whereas child support is determined by a more objective guideline system, an award of maintenance is more subjective.

Grounds for maintenance

Under Minnesota law, the court may grant an award of spousal maintenance if it finds the spouse seeking maintenance:

lacks sufficient property, including marital property apportioned to the spouse, to provided for his/her reasonable needs, considering the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage, especially, but not limited to, a period of training or education, or
is unable to provide adequate self-support, after considering the standard of living established during the marriage and all relevant circumstances, through appropriate employment, or is the custodian of a child whose conditions or circumstances make it appropriate that the custodian not be required to seek employment outside the home.

Amount and duration of maintenance

Once the court determines a need for maintenance (that the spouse seeking maintenance cannot provide for his/her reasonable needs based on the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage) the court must determine the amount of maintenance and for how long it should be paid. In making this decision, the court is required under Minnesota Statutes at Section 518.552, subd. 2, to consider eight factors in determining the amount and duration of maintenance.

Nothing in Section 518.552 is to be construed as favoring a temporary award of maintenance over a permanent one. However, where there is some uncertainty as to the necessity of a permanent award, the court is required to award permanent maintenance, leaving its order open for later modification.

Notwithstanding the eight factors of Section 518.552, it has been held by the Minnesota courts that the question essentially boils down to the requesting party’s reasonable needs based on the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage and that party’s ability to meet his/her needs, balanced against the ability of the other party to meet his/her own needs while still contributing to the support of the other spouse.

Private agreements limiting amount of maintenance and ability to modify

Generally once an amount and term of spousal maintenance is set, either party may make a motion in the future for “modification” of either the amount or length of time the maintenance is to be paid. However, it is possible to limit or eliminate the right to make such a motion. In certain cases the parties may agree to what is known as a Karon waiver. A Karon waiver is an enforceable contract in which the parties essentially take away or limit the authority and jurisdiction of the court to consider motions to modify in the future. Such waivers may only be agreed upon by the parties. A "Karon waiver" may be appropriate if either spouse wants certainty or finality relative to the award of maintenance – either a guarantee of a set term of maintenance or the knowledge that after a set term, the payment obligation is over.

It is important to consider that a Karon waiver, properly drawn, will prevent any future changes to maintenance. If you are a maintenance recipient, and something unexpected happens to you in the future, you will not be able to return and request more maintenance. If you are a maintenance obligor and your income goes down, you are hurt and can’t work, or you lose your job, your obligation to pay continues; and you cannot return to court and ask for a reduction in maintenance or forgiveness of any unpaid maintenance arrears. It is important to have experienced counsel, such as a lawyer from Katz, Manka, Teplinsky, Graves & Sobol, Ltd., to discuss your options and whether a Karon waiver is right for you and, if so, whether certain exceptions to the wavier should be negotiated.

Important points often litigated in spousal maintenance disputes

Experienced counsel like the attorneys at Katz, Manka, Teplinsky, Graves & Sobol, Ltd., are crucial in assuring that as a maintenance recipient you are receiving a fair and equitable amount of maintenance, and that as an obligor you are not paying too much in spousal maintenance. Several factors are very important to presenting and defending a maintenance claim.

First and foremost is having an accurate budget. The attorneys at Katz, Manka, Teplinsky, Graves & Sobol, Ltd. are extremely knowledgeable and methodical in analyzing bank statements, cancelled checks, credit card statements, business records and patterns of spending, to assure that an accurate budget is presented to the court, fairly representing the marital standard of living.

Equally important is an analysis of the incomes of both parties and their income potential. This will, again, require analysis of pay stubs, tax returns, business records of the self-employed, banking records and earning history to accurately and fairly present income and income potential. For a spouse who is unemployed or under employed, our firm sometimes will retain an outside vocational evaluator to determine earning capacity.

Modification of maintenance

Absent a Karon waiver, at any time that maintenance is being paid, either party may serve a motion for “modification” of either the amount or duration of the spousal maintenance term. If you are a recipient of spousal maintenance, it is important that you serve such a motion before the term of maintenance ends. Unless the prior order reserves the issue of maintenance at the expiration of the term, if you wait until after maintenance has expired, the court will not have jurisdiction to award additional maintenance.