Colorado Springs Alimony Lawyer
Experienced Spousal Maintenance Attorney Serving El Paso County, CO
In Colorado divorce cases, the judge or magistrate determines whether to award alimony, also known as spousal maintenance, after one party formally asks for it. You should understand how alimony may affect your case. Always discuss the possibility of paying or receiving spousal maintenance with an experienced Colorado Springs alimony attorney.
If you live in El Paso County or anywhere in the Pikes Peak region, local courts apply Colorado law but also consider community factors that influence your cost of living. Family law judges in Colorado Springs often see cases with military families and unique financial situations. These local circumstances can directly impact how judges calculate or award alimony, making it important to work with a team that understands the legal landscape and the community.
To speak with our experienced Colorado Springs alimony lawyers, call us at (719) 212-2448 or contact us online today.
What Is Alimony?
Alimony provides financial support to a spouse who does not have enough property to meet their reasonable needs and cannot fully support themselves through employment, as determined by the court. You must request alimony before the court will award it. For example, if you do not request alimony at the final hearing, the court confirms that once you waive your right to alimony, you cannot request it again in the future.
Understanding the Types of Alimony in Colorado
Alimony, also called spousal support or spousal maintenance, takes several forms based on the needs of the spouses. In Colorado, knowing the different types of alimony helps you make informed choices about your financial situation after divorce.
Here’s a breakdown of the primary types:
- Temporary alimony: The court may award this support during the divorce proceeding so the lower-earning spouse can maintain a similar standard of living until the divorce becomes final.
- Rehabilitative alimony: This type of support helps a spouse gain the skills or education needed to become self-sufficient. Usually, the court sets a specific duration.
- Permanent alimony: In some cases, when a spouse cannot become self-sufficient because of age, health, or other reasons, permanent alimony continues indefinitely or until circumstances significantly change.
- Reimbursement alimony: This form compensates a spouse who paid for expenses during the marriage, such as the other spouse’s education or career advancement.
Colorado Springs courts look carefully at your marriage and financial circumstances when deciding which alimony option is appropriate. If you made financial contributions to your spouse’s education or job progression, the court may consider reimbursement alimony. Military families in the area may also see the court factor in deployments and transfers, which can affect each party’s income and needs over time.
Learning about each type of alimony helps you approach the divorce process confidently and plan your next steps.
How Courts Calculate Alimony in Colorado Springs
Courts in Colorado Springs rely on state guidelines and a judge’s assessment to decide both the amount and duration of alimony. The law provides an advisory formula for couples whose combined gross income meets certain criteria, but each case depends on its unique details. Judges look at each spouse’s income, financial resources, and the standard of living during the marriage. In some cases, additional factors—such as differences in earning potential, military benefits, or changes in the local economy—play a role.
Both parties must provide detailed financial disclosures. Judges review expenses, debts, and property divisions to ensure fair treatment for both sides. The length of alimony payments typically matches the length of the marriage, with longer marriages often leading to longer support durations. Members of the military or those working at local installations may see the court consider deployment schedules and government benefits when determining a fair outcome.
At The Gasper Law Group, our experienced Colorado Springs alimony attorneys can guide you through the complexities of alimony and help you secure a fair outcome tailored to your needs. Don’t hesitate to reach out for personalized advice that considers your specific circumstances.
Who Is Eligible for Spousal Maintenance in Colorado Springs?
Eligibility for spousal maintenance depends on each spouse’s earnings, future financial prospects, and the length of the marriage. If the income gap between spouses exists and the marriage lasted more than 36 months, the lower-earning spouse may qualify for support. Spousal maintenance often helps with living expenses until one spouse increases their earning ability through education, training, or work experience. Most awards last for a specific period, unless the paying spouse can prove reasons to end them.
The longer the marriage, the more likely the court will award alimony, but each case stands on its own merits and exceptions exist. Every situation may involve unique financial or family dynamics.
A court can award maintenance if it finds the following are true:
- The spouse requesting payments does not have sufficient income or property to cover their reasonable needs.
- The spouse cannot quickly get employment that allows self-support, such as when caregiving responsibilities limit job options.
How Military Service Impacts Alimony in Colorado Springs
Military families living in Colorado Springs see specific factors affect alimony decisions. Judges look at the service member’s pay, housing allowances, and active duty status or deployments when reviewing financial need and payment ability. Permanent Change of Station (PCS) moves or deployments can change what the court considers for both payment and receipt of support. Alimony terms may also shift if a military member’s benefits change through reassignment or retirement.
With Fort Carson, Peterson Space Force Base, and other military installations, many local cases involve service members and their spouses. Military benefits sometimes enter the calculation of spousal maintenance, which requires detailed documentation and a clear picture of compensation. If your case involves military pay or retirement, prepare all relevant financial statements to help the court reach a fair decision.
Spousal Support for Short Vs. Long Marriages in Colorado Springs
There is no absolute rule for how long a marriage must last before a court awards maintenance, but judges in Colorado rarely grant support after very short marriages. If your marriage lasted 20–25 years or more, the court may award long-term or even lifetime alimony, depending on factors like age, work history, education, and both parties’ ability to earn income. Alimony in Colorado ends automatically when either party dies or if the recipient remarries. Moving in with a new partner does not end maintenance under current Colorado law.
Whether you want to request or contest spousal maintenance, you need a Colorado Springs alimony attorney who can present your circumstances favorably to the court.
Call a Colorado Springs Alimony Attorney Today
The Gasper Law Group can handle every aspect of your divorce case, including spousal maintenance.
Our team adjusts every approach to your needs and goals. Colorado Springs courts sometimes weigh local job markets and the area’s cost of living when deciding alimony. If you have military service or complex income streams, local rules and conditions may shape your spousal support situation.
Understanding Tax Implications of Alimony in Colorado
Alimony payments affect annual tax filings for both spouses. For divorce agreements finalized after 2018, the paying spouse cannot deduct alimony on federal taxes, and the recipient does not report it as income. This federal tax law applies in El Paso County and throughout Colorado, so local courts use post-tax income when structuring support. If your divorce order came before 2019, different tax rules may apply, so check your specific situation if you plan to modify or enforce your order.
Knowing how recent tax law changes affect alimony helps you plan wisely and avoid surprises. If you are recently divorced or planning to separate, review IRS guidelines and Colorado regulations to keep your finances steady.
If you would like more information about how we can help you, please call (719) 212-2448 or contact us online to speak to our Colorado Springs spousal maintence attorneys today.
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What if my spouse requests the Judge to order alimony while the divorce case is still pending?
This is called “temporary spousal maintenance.” Your spouse is not required to request this, however, and it will not be addressed by the Court unless someone requests that the Court enter orders addressing the issue.
There is a presumed level of temporary alimony in Colorado, in cases where a couple’s combined gross annual income is equal to or less than $75,000. If you and your spouse’s gross yearly incomes added together equal $75,000 per year or less, then it is likely that at a temporary orders hearing the Colorado family law magistrate will apply a mandatory formula and award maintenance equal to 40% of the higher income earner’s gross monthly income minus 50% of the lower income earner’s gross monthly income.
This statutory formula, which can be draconian, is required to be applied by the judges and magistrates, who cannot exercise discretion to change what they have been mandated to do.
Under those circumstances, this Colorado alimony formula applies regardless of the length of the marriage. C.R.S. 14-10- 114(4) requires that maintenance be determined “without regard to marital misconduct.” It does not matter if a spouse committed adultery or other moral or wrongdoing; the Court generally must order a maintenance amount based on the above formula (on a temporary basis only.) In other words, if your spouse cheated on you and ended the marriage, it will be irrelevant to the Court regarding maintenance. Your attorney cannot present an argument to the court that, since your wife cheated on you with five different men and is now living with her new boyfriend, you should somehow not have to pay spousal support to her because of that moral wrongdoing.
Another painful example: even if you were only married for a few months, it does not prevent the other spouse from requesting temporary maintenance pursuant to the formula, even though the spouse will almost certainly not get any maintenance when the divorce is final.
Example: Parties have no children together. Peter earns $4000 per month, and Trixie earns $1500 per month and is living and being supported by her new boyfriend. Peter’s presumptive temporary maintenance payment will be $850 ($1600 – $750) per month, until the final orders hearing or further agreement of the parties.In situations where both of your combined gross annual incomes exceed $75,000, this formula does not automatically apply for temporary alimony in Colorado. Instead, the courts are supposed to utilize various factors your attorney can help you understand. Note that this creates less predictability – while some Colorado divorce magistrates may use the 40% minus 50% formula as a starting point, other magistrates will disregard it altogether.
That being said, when the parties’ combined gross monthly incomes are more than $75,000 the magistrates will still use the formula as a guideline or starting point for determining temporary maintenance, assuming the threshold requirements are met. The magistrate will be particularly interested in the parties’ respective financial situations – and will scrutinize both of your sworn financial statements to see what incomes and expenses look like, and what shortfall may exist. In other words, the magistrate or judge will balance one spouse’s true need vs. the other’s ability to pay. Your Sworn Financial Statement is extremely important when payment of maintenance is the major issue in the case.
Our experienced attorneys can help to make sure you can reasonably and cogently explain every single dollar listed in that document if you were to be asked questions by a judge about it. -
How much am I going to have to pay and for how long after I am divorced?
As you might have guessed, there is no quick and easy answer to this question. Absent agreement with your spouse on the issue, the answer to this question may only be reached after hours of negotiation, through the mediation process, or at your final hearing, as this is likely to be the biggest issue in your case if there are no issues regarding children.
This is a highly discretionary area for judges, which is a big reason why there is unfortunately so much litigation between couples even when everything else can be resolved and why you need an experienced family law attorney on your side.
When the family law judge is considering what maintenance should be payable after a dissolution, there is no formula to guide him/her. In fact, the judge at your final hearing is not supposed to apply any “formula” at all; the temporary maintenance formula is thrown out the window, even if it was actually applied before at temporary orders. Instead, Colorado divorce law sets out mandatory factors to consider when determining an award, which including the following:
- The financial resources of the party seeking maintenance, including marital property apportioned to such party, and the party’s ability to meet his or her needs independently, including the extent to which a provision for support of a child living with the party includes a sum for that party;
- The time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment and that party’s future earning capacity;
- The standard of living established during the marriage;
- The duration of the marriage;
- The age and the physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance; and
- The ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet his or her needs while meeting those of the spouse seeking maintenance.
This leaves quite a bit of discretion to the judge who hears your case. There are no easy-to-define standards or black-and-white guidelines at final orders. What does this mean? In short, it depends upon the judge, but it will also depend on your willingness to resolve the issue by negotiated agreement with your own spouse and your attorney. In the absence of specific numerical guidance, some judges are more generous than others when it comes to maintenance, and the size of the award then depends in part upon the “luck of the draw”, i.e. which family law judge was randomly assigned to hear the case. It also may depend on how good of a day your judge happens to be having when your case is called.
If you cannot or will not reach your own agreement with your spouse about how much you will pay, the Court will consider all evidence relating to all of the above factors and then make a decision as to 1) how much per month, if any, you must pay; and 2) how long it must be paid. The judge will consider the totality of the circumstances, and each and every case depends on the particular facts and details surrounding the situation. Some factors may be also given more weight by the judge than others when determining the amount and duration of maintenance you will have to pay.
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What if my spouse has been out of the workforce, has never worked, or could be working?
It is very common that during a marriage, one spouse may not be fully and gainfully employed, and instead may be a homemaker, work part-time, or simply be capable of working in a higher capacity than his/her current employment, or may just have left a job. These common situations further complicate the maintenance picture, as the court considers whether to impute minimum wage to a non-working spouse or whether to impute a higher income for the purposes of establishing a maintenance award. If there is no good reason why your spouse cannot work full time (such as a physical disability), the judge will most likely assume that your spouse can at least earn minimum wage, and it will be imputed.
Colorado has been undergoing regular changes with minimum wage, and will continue to do so. It is currently considered at $7.25 per hour, resulting in a gross monthly income of $1,257 per month (7.25 per hour X 40 hours X 52 weeks / 12 months).
Imputing income, as the term suggests, simply means pretending that a spouse earns a different income than the spouse actually earns. Whether to impute income depends upon a variety of factors, such as the expectations established during the marriage, whether a spouse is a full-time student or could be earning more, the availability of suitable employment, proof of past earnings, whether the spouse has sought more lucrative employment, and so forth.
Second only to issues about children, maintenance is often the most contested issue in a dissolution case. You may consider retaining an expert to perform a vocational assessment to determine a spouse’s “employability”, proof of a job search for suitable employment, or other evidence showing earning capacity. Although you will be solely responsible for the initial cost of such an expert, this may be a good way to help the case resolve, since the judge will place weight on the expert’s testimony and report to the Court as to a spouse’s earning capacity.
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What are the tax/income consequences of alimony?
When a Colorado divorce court awards alimony, the amount of alimony paid is deducted from your income for purposes of a child support calculation, and includable as income to your spouse. Payment of maintenance also shifts the tax burden from the paying spouse to the recipient spouse (note this is for maintenance only, and not child support). In other words, if you are ordered to pay spousal maintenance to your spouse, the maintenance you have paid can be deducted on your income taxes.
Since maintenance will be “counted” as income to the spouse receiving it and a deduction from the income of the spouse paying it, maintenance also matters in terms of things that are typically divided by the Court directly in proportion to income (e.g., transportation expenses for parenting time, extraordinary medical expenses). Depending upon the specific facts of the case, premiums on life insurance ordered by a Colorado divorce court may also be tax deductible.
Set up an initial consultation with our office today. Discuss your case with our Colorado Springs Lawyers at
(719) 212-2448 or complete our contact form.
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