Practice Area: Family Law

Divorce  •  Custody  •  Child Support  •  Maintenance (Formerly Alimony)  •  Paternity
Support and Custody Modifications  •  Abuse/Neglect  •  Adoptions  •  Other Family Law Matters

Missouri Family Law - Maintenance (Formerly Alimony)

Documents to bring with you
(Adobe pdf file)

In the past, maintenance was referred to as alimony. That word seems to have taken on a negative connotation so the Missouri Bar decided that maintenance was a better way to refer to spousal support. The negative connotation that the term alimony took on wasn't all for not. The involvement of maintenance in a divorce necessitates the involvement of a detail-oriented and experienced attorney that will keep your future interests always prevalent in their mind.

Whether you are a spouse seeking maintenance or a spouse who might anticipate having to pay maintenance, our attorneys will be certain that your interests are protected. Similar to our approach to settlement and child support, a potential candidate for receiving or paying maintenance will be asked to discuss this early on with our attorneys.

The Missouri courts have established a cursory way to determine if you might be a potential candidate for receiving or paying maintenance. The first example might be if you have had a long marriage to your spouse. No exact year figure can be placed in this equation, but a marriage of over 20 years would likely be a good candidate. The second example might be if either spouse makes significantly more money than the other spouse. Again, there is no exact number that would fit into the equation that could tell you for certain if you are a likely candidate, but if there is a large gap between the two spouses' incomes the issue of maintenance should be addressed. Finally, the third example might be if one spouse had forgone their own education to help financially support the other spouse while he or she furthered their education or if one spouse had forgone his or her own career as a result of a joint decision that that spouse would stay home and care for the home and/or children.

Meeting a single one of the above-listed criteria is not likely to make you a good candidate to receive or pay maintenance. However, if you or your spouse meet 2 or more of the criteria you would certainly want to discuss the likelihood of receiving or paying maintenance with one of our attorneys.

Contact: Sara Michael

Administrative Law • Business & Estate Planning • Family Law • Litigation • Criminal Law

Copyright ©2008 All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Disclaimers | Site Map |