Maintenance may be awarded to either spouse for their support and maintenance after the divorce. It is generally based on the financial circumstances of the divorcing spouses. There is no specific formula to calculate maintenance and the determination of maintenance is left to the discretion of the court.
The Court may grant maintenance if it finds that the one party lacks sufficient property to provide for their reasonable needs, and is unable to support themselves through appropriate employment.
In order to help the Court determine the amount and duration of maintenance, the court will look at several factors, such as: (a) the financial resources of the party seeking maintenance; (b) the time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment; (c) the standard of living established during the marriage; (d) the duration of the marriage; (e) the age, and physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance; and (f) the ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet their own needs as well as those of the spouse seeking maintenance.
There are a few different forms of maintenance. The first is temporary maintenance, which is paid from one spouse to the other during the trial or proceedings and before the divorce is finalized.
Rehabilitative maintenance, is where one spouse (usually from a short marriage) pays for the other to complete an education or a program that will help the other spouse be able to earn their own living.
And lastly, permanent maintenance, where the court describes an amount that one spouse should pay to the other for either a specified period of time, or an open-ended period of time.
In the determination of maintenance, fault may play a role. The court will not consider fault in determining whether a recipient is entitled to maintenance, however, it will consider fault in determining the amount and duration of maintenance.
Related Article: Will I Have To Pay Alimony?