Maintenance was formerly called alimony. Starting on January 1, 2014, Colorado’s statute concerning maintenance will be changed. The judges will have a formula based on the number of years of marriage to determine the amount of post divorce maintenance. You should also consider asking that the court require your spouse to carry Life Insurance so that if he or she dies, you will not be at risk to lose out on maintenance (or child support). In a divorce, the court has authority to order husband to maintain his life insurance policy for benefit of his children. See In re Anderson’s Marriage, App.1975, 541 P.2d 1274, 37 Colo.App. 55
If one of the parties is not working at the time of the divorce, it is still possible that the court may order “imputed income.” If you are unemployed, the court could impute income to you – estimate what your current earning potential is. If you are at risk of the court imputing income to you because you are underemployed or voluntarily unemployed, you should get legal advice to avoid an unfair imputation of income.
If your spouse is intentionally not working, or is working at a low pay job for which he or she is overqualified, you can argue that he or she is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed and could be earning a higher income.