Many people think of alimony as something that a husband pays a wife after divorce, although the legal trend has moved toward requiring the family breadwinner to pay spousal support regardless of gender. If a wife in Colorado makes more money than the husband, then the husband would generally be equally as entitled to spousal support as a similarly situated woman where the husband makes more.
In some high asset divorce cases, it is anyone’s guess who actually has more income and who should be entitled to support. For example, it has been reported that Demi Moore has demanded alimony payments from her soon-to-be ex-husband, Ashton Kutcher. Both Moore and Kutcher are huge stars with significant assets and income. It seems unlikely that a lack of spousal support on either side would materially impact either the husband’s or the wife’s lifestyle. Both are certainly able to support themselves without the help of spousal support, which in usually the standard courts use to decide the amount and duration of payments.
In Colorado, other factors that may enter into a spousal support award may include the spouse’s age and health, whether the recipient is able to train in a career and how long such training would take, the standard of living the couple enjoyed during the marriage, how long the marriage lasted, and finally, the actual ability of the paying spouse to make the payments.
Payments can also be negotiated between spouses without getting the courts involved, so long as both partners have separate legal representation.
Indeed, much of divorce is centered around negotiation. With that in mind, it is quite possible that Moore’s demand for alimony could merely be a bargaining chip to gain leverage in any overall property settlement talks.
Source: TMZ, “Demi Moore demands spousal support from Ashton!!!,” March 7, 2013