SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE IN COLORADO SPRINGS DIVORCE CASES
Spousal maintenance is often one of the most contested issues in a Colorado divorce. The person asking for it is usually worried about how they will cover rent, insurance, and daily expenses on one income. The person who may pay it wants to know how much, for how long, and whether the number is fair.
Colorado law answers those questions with a mix of math and judgment. The statute gives courts an advisory formula for the amount and the length of maintenance, then requires the court to weigh the facts of each marriage before deciding what is fair to both spouses. Our Colorado Springs spousal maintenance lawyers help clients in El Paso County understand where their case is likely to land and build the evidence that moves the outcome.
ON THIS PAGE
- Maintenance, Alimony, and Spousal Support
- When a Court Can Award Maintenance
- How the Guideline Amount Is Calculated
- How Long Maintenance Lasts
- Factors That Change the Number
- Income Disputes and Potential Income
- High-Income Cases and Short Marriages
- Temporary Maintenance While the Case Is Pending
- Modifying or Ending Maintenance
- How Our Colorado Springs Maintenance Lawyers Help
- Spousal Maintenance FAQs
- Sources
MAINTENANCE, ALIMONY, AND SPOUSAL SUPPORT
Colorado statutes use the term maintenance. Most people still call it alimony or spousal support, and all three terms describe the same thing: payments from one spouse to the other after a divorce or legal separation, or while the case is pending.
Maintenance can be requested in a dissolution of marriage, a legal separation, or a declaration of invalidity. Under C.R.S. 14-10-114(2), an award must be fair and equitable to both parties and is made without regard to marital misconduct. Infidelity alone does not raise or lower the amount.
That rule has an important limit. Since August 6, 2025, the list of factors a court considers includes whether a spouse engaged in domestic violence, coercive control, economic abuse, litigation abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, or unlawful sexual behavior against the other spouse. That factor was added by SB 25-116 and appears at C.R.S. 14-10-114(3)(c)(XII.5).
WHEN A COURT CAN AWARD MAINTENANCE
Maintenance is not automatic. Before granting or denying a request, the court must make initial findings about each spouse's gross income, the marital property each will receive, each spouse's financial resources, the reasonable financial need established during the marriage, and whether the payments would be tax deductible to the payor.
The court then considers the advisory guideline amount and term, if the guidelines apply, along with the statutory factors described below. Finally, under C.R.S. 14-10-114(3)(d), the court may award maintenance only if it finds that the requesting spouse:
- Lacks sufficient property, including the marital property awarded to them, to provide for their reasonable needs, and
- Is unable to support themselves through appropriate employment, or is the custodian of a child whose condition or circumstances make it inappropriate for that spouse to work outside the home.
Because property is divided before maintenance is decided, the property settlement and the maintenance request are closely connected. A spouse who receives more of the marital estate may need less maintenance, and the court can adjust the property division to reduce or eliminate the need for it.
HOW THE GUIDELINE AMOUNT IS CALCULATED
The advisory guidelines apply when the marriage lasted at least three years and the spouses' combined annual adjusted gross income is $240,000 or less. The starting calculation is 40% of the spouses' combined monthly adjusted gross income, minus the lower-earning spouse's monthly adjusted gross income. If the result is negative, the guideline amount is zero.
For most current cases, that is not the final number. Federal law generally made maintenance neither deductible to the payor nor taxable to the recipient for divorce or separation instruments executed after December 31, 2018. Colorado adjusted its formula to account for that change:
- If combined monthly adjusted gross income is $10,000 or less, the guideline amount is 80% of the starting calculation.
- If combined monthly adjusted gross income is more than $10,000 but not more than $20,000, the guideline amount is 75% of the starting calculation.
Some websites still describe an older formula that subtracts half of the lower earner's income from 40% of the higher earner's income. That method no longer reflects the statute. The table below shows how the current formula works with sample numbers.
| Step | Example A | Example B |
|---|---|---|
| Higher earner's monthly adjusted gross income | $6,000 | $12,000 |
| Lower earner's monthly adjusted gross income | $2,000 | $3,000 |
| Combined monthly adjusted gross income | $8,000 | $15,000 |
| 40% of combined income | $3,200 | $6,000 |
| Minus lower earner's income | $1,200 | $3,000 |
| Non-taxable adjustment | 80% (combined $10,000 or less) | 75% (combined $10,001 to $20,000) |
| Advisory guideline amount | $960 per month | $2,250 per month |
These examples are illustrations only. The guidelines are advisory, and C.R.S. 14-10-114(3)(e) states that they do not create a presumptive amount or term. The court has discretion to award a different amount, or no maintenance, based on the totality of the circumstances.
HOW LONG MAINTENANCE LASTS
For marriages of at least three years but not more than twenty years, the statute includes a table that sets an advisory term based on the length of the marriage in whole months. The percentage starts at 31% for a 36-month marriage and rises to 50% at 150 months, where it stays.
| Length of marriage | Percentage | Guideline term |
|---|---|---|
| 36 months (3 years) | 31.00% | 11 months |
| 60 months (5 years) | 35.00% | 21 months |
| 120 months (10 years) | 45.00% | 54 months |
| 150 months (12.5 years) | 50.00% | 75 months |
| 180 months (15 years) | 50.00% | 90 months |
| 240 months (20 years) | 50.00% | 120 months |
Duration of marriage is counted from the first day of the month after the wedding until the decree, or until the property hearing if it comes first. When a marriage lasted more than twenty years, the court may award maintenance for a specified term or for an indefinite term. It cannot set a term shorter than the twenty-year guideline term without making specific findings that support a shorter one.
FACTORS THAT CHANGE THE NUMBER
The formula is the starting point, not the answer. Under C.R.S. 14-10-114(3)(c), the court considers all relevant factors, including:
- Each spouse's financial resources, including actual or potential income from separate or marital property
- The lifestyle during the marriage
- The distribution of marital property and whether more property could reduce the need for maintenance
- Each spouse's income, employment, and employability, including any training or education needed
- Whether a spouse historically earned more or less than at the time of permanent orders, including overtime and second jobs
- The length of the marriage and the amount of any temporary maintenance already paid
- Age, health, and significant health care costs
- Significant economic or noneconomic contributions, such as supporting a spouse through school or job training
- Whether a nominal award is appropriate to preserve a future maintenance claim
- The tax treatment of the payments
- Domestic violence, coercive control, economic abuse, litigation abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, or unlawful sexual behavior by a spouse
The court may also reserve jurisdiction to decide maintenance later when an identifiable future event, such as completing a degree or the end of a medical treatment, will affect the outcome. It must explain the reason, name the future event, and set a reasonably specific time frame.
INCOME DISPUTES AND POTENTIAL INCOME
Most maintenance disputes are really income disputes. Colorado defines gross income broadly in C.R.S. 14-10-114(8)(c) to include salaries, wages, commissions, bonuses, self-employment income, rents, dividends, and many other sources. Overtime counts only if the employer requires it as a condition of employment, and income from extra jobs beyond full-time work is generally excluded.
If a spouse is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, the court calculates maintenance using potential income rather than actual earnings. There are exceptions. Potential income is not imputed to a spouse who is physically or mentally incapacitated, who is caring for a child under 24 months old for whom both spouses are responsible, or who is incarcerated and sentenced to 180 days or more. HB 25-1159 changed those last two thresholds in 2025.
A spouse is also not considered underemployed when temporary work is reasonably expected to lead to higher income, when the job reflects a good-faith career choice, or when the spouse is enrolled in a qualifying education program. Self-employment income is calculated as gross receipts minus ordinary and necessary business expenses, and some deductions allowed for tax purposes, such as accelerated depreciation, are not allowed here. For service members, our military divorce team reviews pay and allowance records closely, because military compensation is rarely as simple as base pay.
HIGH-INCOME CASES AND SHORT MARRIAGES
When the spouses' combined annual adjusted gross income is more than $240,000, the guideline formula for the amount does not apply. Under C.R.S. 14-10-114(3.5), the court instead weighs the statutory factors to decide the amount, and it may still consider the guideline term. These cases often turn on lifestyle evidence and business valuation, which our high net worth divorce page covers in more detail.
Marriages shorter than three years fall outside the guidelines, but maintenance is still possible. Under C.R.S. 14-10-114(3)(h), the court may award maintenance in a short marriage when the property division alone cannot produce an equitable result.
TEMPORARY MAINTENANCE WHILE THE CASE IS PENDING
A divorce in El Paso County can take months to reach permanent orders. Either spouse can ask for temporary maintenance during that time, and the court may order a monthly amount using the relevant parts of the statute.
The guideline term table does not apply to temporary orders; the court decides how long temporary maintenance lasts. It also considers who is paying family expenses and debts while the case is open. A temporary order does not lock in the result at permanent orders, but the amount and number of months already paid become a factor in the final decision.
MODIFYING OR ENDING MAINTENANCE
Unless the spouses agreed in writing that maintenance cannot be modified, a court can change an existing order under C.R.S. 14-10-122. The spouse asking for the change must show changed circumstances so substantial and continuing that the existing terms have become unfair. A modification usually takes effect as of the date the motion is filed, so waiting to file can cost money.
Unless the agreement or decree says otherwise, the obligation to pay future maintenance ends on the earliest of:
- The death of either spouse
- The end of the maintenance term, unless a motion to modify is filed before the term expires
- The remarriage of, or establishment of a civil union by, the spouse receiving maintenance
- A court order terminating maintenance
A payor who retires after reaching full retirement age for Social Security purposes is entitled to a rebuttable presumption that the retirement is in good faith. Living with a new partner is not the same as remarriage, so it does not end maintenance automatically. It may still be relevant to a modification request, and our post-decree modifications lawyers handle these motions in both directions.
HOW OUR COLORADO SPRINGS MAINTENANCE LAWYERS HELP
Maintenance outcomes depend on documents: tax returns, pay statements, business records, budgets, and evidence of the marital lifestyle. We help clients gather and present that evidence, test the other side's income claims, and decide whether to negotiate, mediate, or ask the court to decide.
Moran, Allen & Associates represents spouses on both sides of maintenance requests in El Paso County and Teller County, from temporary orders through permanent orders and later modifications. If maintenance is part of your Colorado Springs divorce, a consultation can help you understand the guideline range and the factors most likely to matter in your case.
SPOUSAL MAINTENANCE FAQS
Is Spousal Maintenance Guaranteed in a Long Marriage?
No. Even after a long marriage, the court can award maintenance only if the requesting spouse cannot meet reasonable needs with their property and appropriate employment. The length of the marriage strongly affects the guideline term, but it does not decide whether maintenance is awarded.
Does Colorado Use a Maintenance Calculator?
The Colorado Judicial Branch publishes a maintenance worksheet, and some district courts require each spouse to sign a maintenance advisement form. Any calculator only produces the advisory amount and term. The court still applies the statutory factors and may award a different amount or none at all.
Can We Agree to Waive Maintenance?
Yes. Spouses can waive maintenance in a separation agreement, or in a valid premarital or marital agreement. If one spouse is unrepresented and the case falls within the guidelines, the court will not approve a waiver or an amount outside the guidelines unless that spouse confirms they are aware of the guidelines.
Is Maintenance Taxable?
For divorce or separation instruments executed after December 31, 2018, federal law generally treats maintenance as neither deductible by the payor nor taxable to the recipient. That is why Colorado's formula reduces the guideline amount for non-taxable maintenance. A tax professional should review any agreement involving older orders or unusual payment structures.
What Does It Cost to File a Motion to Modify Maintenance?
The Colorado Judicial Branch fee list shows $105 for a motion to modify a decree or final order filed more than 60 days after the order. The Branch notes that its published fees reflect January 2025 amounts and are ultimately governed by statute, so confirm the current figure when you file.
SOURCES
- C.R.S. 14-10-114, Spousal maintenance, advisory guidelines (Justia, 2025 Colorado Revised Statutes)
- C.R.S. 14-10-122, Modification and termination of maintenance (Justia, 2025 Colorado Revised Statutes)
- C.R.S. 14-10-113, Disposition of property (Justia, 2025 Colorado Revised Statutes)
- Colorado Judicial Branch, List of Fees