Alimony in Minnesota is legally known as Spousal Maintenance. Spousal maintenance is also sometimes called “spousal support”, or simply “maintenance”.
With alimony, a spouse provides income to the other during or after a divorce or legal separation. Alimony is designed to help maintain the marital standard of living for the lower income earning spouse.
When Can a Claim be Made for Alimony in Minnesota?
During or after a divorce or legal separation, either spouse may ask for alimony from the other.
In Minnesota, a court may order one spouse to pay alimony if it finds that the spouse seeking alimony:
- Lacks sufficient property to meet reasonable needs/standard of living maintained during the marriage, or
- Is unable to support him or herself with his or her own income.
(Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 518.552, Subdivision 1).
To determine if there may be grounds for a spousal maintenance claim, a court may ask:
“Will one spouse be significantly better off financially than the other spouse? Will the other spouse is unable to meet reasonable needs based on the marital standard of living?”
One party’s need for spousal support and the other party’s ability to provide spousal support are the two key threshold questions.
What if a Couple agree on Alimony?
During a divorce, a couple may argue regarding the need for spousal support or the amount and duration.
However, if the couple reaches an agreement, the agreement can become part of a court order. This court order is typically in a divorce decree.
If both the maintenance settlement looks fair, the judge will likely make it an order. Alimony is only enforceable with a court order.
What if a Couple disagrees on Alimony?
On the other hand, if a divorcing couple disagrees on spousal maintenance, the couple may try alternative dispute resolution. This includes Mediation or Financial Early Neutral Evaluation (FENE).
If a couple still can’t resolve the issue, the couple must turn to a Judge. Judges determine spousal maintenance on a case-by-case basis. They have a great deal of discretion. For this reason, spousal support is one of the more unpredictable divorce issues.
In the event of a hearing, a judge will determine if alimony should be awarded. If it’s awarded, the judge will also decide how much and for how long. In these cases, spousal maintenance is often fact-intensive and hotly-contested.
In Minnesota, the court is tasked with the responsibility to determine a fair amount and duration without regard to the marital conduct of either spouse.
How Much is Alimony in Minnesota?
Unlike child support, spousal maintenance doesn’t use a guideline calculator. Instead, Minnesota courts determine an amount and a period of time that is fair. (Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 518.552, Subdivision 2).
When considering the amount and duration, a judge must consider certain factors. These include:
- Length of marriage,
- Income and/or financial resources of both parties,
- Standard of living during the marriage,
- Age of each party,
- Education, job history, training and work experience/skills of the party seeking maintenance,
- Property acquired by each spouse in the divorce or legal separation,
- Living expenses of each party,
- Physical and emotional health and abilities of the spouse seeking maintenance.
How Long Can the Court Order Alimony in Minnesota?
In Minnesota, a judge can order transitional or indefinite maintenance.
transitional Spousal Maintenance
Transitional spousal maintenance can be granted during or after a divorce (Minnesota Statutes, Section 518.62). The court may grant transitional spousal maintenance under certain circumstances.
For example, a court may order one spouse to pay alimony to buy time for necessary job training and/or education for employment. For this reason, transitional spousal maintenance is sometimes also known as rehabilitative maintenance.
With transitional maintenance, when the maintenance period ends the ex-spouse receiving maintenance has the burden to show why maintenance should be extended, if he or she wants it to.
indefinite Spousal Maintenance
In certain circumstances, a judge may order indefinite spousal maintenance. For example, imagine a marriage that has lasted for many years. One spouse was a homemaker. The other the breadwinner. Now, the couple has a significant disparity between the their incomes. The homemaker is older and it would be difficult for him or her to reenter the workforce. This may be a situation for indefinite support.
If the Court is uncertain regarding the necessity of an indefinite maintenance order, the court can order indefinite maintenance. (Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 518.552, Subdivision 3).
Unless otherwise agreed to in writing or expressed in the divorce decree, future payments of spousal maintenance end upon the death of either party or the remarriage of the party receiving spousal maintenance. (Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 518A.39, Subdivision 3).
which maintenance is appropriate?
Under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 518.552, Subdivision 3(c):
(c) The court must determine the duration of maintenance based on the length of the marriage as follows:
(1) when the length of the marriage is less than five years, it is rebuttably presumed that no maintenance should be awarded;
(2) when the length of the marriage is at least five years and less than 20 years, it is rebuttably presumed that transitional maintenance should be awarded with a duration of no longer than one-half the length of the marriage if the factors set forth in subdivision 1 support an award of maintenance; and
(3) when the length of the marriage is 20 years or more, it is rebuttably presumed that indefinite maintenance should be awarded if the factors set forth in subdivision 1 support an award of maintenance.
Many spousal arguments will focus on the relevant statutory factors, in particular the incomes of the parties and their monthly expenses.
What’s a Prototypical Alimony Situation?
The most typical scenario involves a long-term marriage in which one party, more commonly, the wife, stayed home to raise the children, while the other party, more commonly the husband, worked full-time outside the home.
Presumably, the wife contributed much to the relationship in terms of raising the children and household care. Also, she likely gave up career opportunities to do so.
In this situation it would be grossly unfair to allow one party to be financially well-off while the other party struggled to make ends meet with limited job skills and experience.
Alimony in Minnesota: How Does it Work in Court Today?
Today, two-income households, more balanced incomes, and more balance with shared parental responsibilities have all decreased the need for court-ordered alimony awards.
However, this doesn’t mean alimony is no longer ordered. Instead, spousal maintenance orders are just less common. Also, support is more likely to be transitional.
Regardless of these trends, as stated previously, judges decide alimony on a case by case basis. The specific facts in a couple’s case are more important than overall trends.
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