The Comprehenisve Guide to Spousal Maintenance

Spousal Maintenance is a sensitive topic. We believe in providing you with all of the information you need to make important decisions regarding Spousal Support in Arizona. In mediation, you and your spouse can deviate up or down from the amount the courts would likely determine to be the amount of spousal maintenance.

We will help you understand the law about spousal maintenance in Arizona, to use as a reference point as you make important decisions. In mediation, you and your spouse will have the flexibility you need to reach unique agreements that best meet both of your needs.

You can speak with a Mediation Coordinator, who can answer your questions about the mediation process, by calling 480-799-7999 or emailing them via the link below. You can schedule a free online consultation at any time.

Consults are informational only and they do not begin any divorce or legal separation process. We hope you find this information helpful and we appreciate your feedback, thoughts, ideas and questions.

What is Spousal Maintenance?

Spousal Maintenance, also referred to as Spousal Support or Alimony, refers to payment by one spouse to the other spouse following a divorce or legal separation. Arizona takes a Needs-Based Approach to determining spousal maintenance. Spousal maintenance is designed to limit any negative financial impact of divorce by providing financial support, for a designated period of time, to a spouse who cannot meet their reasonable expenses on their own. Payments are ordered only for as long as the spouse needs them. The goals of spousal maintenance are to create a bridge to financial independence for both spouses as soon as possible, and to encourage financial independence by the party receiving maintenance.

It is important to note that spousal maintenance is a separate consideration and is not a substitute for or supplement to a child support payment.

How does Spousal Maintenance in ArizonaWork?

Not every divorce or legal separation involves spousal maintenance in Arizona. In mediation, parties may mutually agree on the amount and duration of spousal support, or by settling a litigated case outside of court, before a judge renders an order.

Determination of Spousal Maintenance Eligibility in Arizona involve a two-step inquiry process:

Step One: Entitlement

Entitlement refers to the determination as to whether or not one spouse is entitled to or eligible to receive spousal maintenance. In a litigated case, the court only considers the circumstances of the spouse who is requesting spousal support. If a spouse satisfies at least one of the conditions of entitlement (described below), the inquiry moves to the second step.

Step Two: Amount & Duration

If the court determines a spouse is entitled to receive spousal maintenance, it then considers the relevant circumstances of both parties to determine in what amount and for what duration. Although a spouse may be entitled to maintenance under Step 1 of the inquiry, a court may nevertheless decide that an award of $0 is appropriate after considering the factors relevant to the second step of the inquiry.

Eligibility for Spousal Support in Arizona

A spouse qualifies for an award of spousal maintenance in Arizona after a divorce or legal separation if they meet one or more of the following criteria, A.R.S. § 25-319 (A):

1. lacks sufficient property to provide for his/her reasonable needs;
2. is unable to be self-sufficient through appropriate employment, or is the custodian of a child whose age or condition prevents the spouse from working outside the home;
3. made significant financial or other contribution to the education, training, vocational skills, career or earning ability of the other spouse;*
4. had a marriage of long duration and is of an age that may prevent the spouse from gaining employment adequate to be self-sufficient; or
5. has significantly reduced that spouse’s income or career opportunities for the benefit of the other spouse.

Mediation provides a platform for spouses to develop their own agreements. In mediation, spouses maintain control of the agreements. In litigation a judge makes the final determinations. Even in high conflict cases, The Aurit Center’s professional family mediators successfully guide spouses to agreements that best support their unique needs.

Mediation is distinguished from litigation in terms of who has control of the agreements.

Amount and Duration of Spousal Maintenance in Arizona

After the courts determine there is a need for spousal maintenance, in litigated cases, they will determine the amount and duration of the spousal support. Whereas, in mediation, spouses work to find a mutually-agreeable amount and duration of spousal maintenance. The courts consider the following factors:

1. standard of living during the marriage;
2. length of the marriage;
3. age, employment history, and earning ability of each person;
4. ability to meet the needs of each person;
5. the comparative financial resources of the spouses;
6. contributed to the earning ability of the spouse by each person;
7. extent to which they reduced their income or career opportunities for the benefit of the other spouse, for each person;
8. ability to contribute to the future educational costs of their mutual children after divorce;
9. financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance;
10. the time necessary for the spouse seeking maintenance to acquire the education or training needed to find suitable employment, and whether such education or training is readily available;
11. excessive or abnormal expenditures during the marriage;
12. cost of health insurance for the spouse seeking maintenance; and
13. actual damages resulting from the criminal acts (criminal conviction) of either spouse on the other spouse or child.

In court, it is up to each individual judge to determine what factors contribute to the amount and duration of spousal maintenance awarded.

The Mediation Approach

It is normal to want to know what you can expect to pay or receive in spousal maintenance and for what duration, so you can plan your finances accordingly. In mediation, we take a comprehensive view when approaching this sensitive subject and we help you to explore and understand your options. Regretfully, as discussed above, spousal maintenance law  does not provide much guidance.

Generally, the person requesting alimony has a shortfall in terms of the funds they need each month to pay for their expenses. For the person paying spousal maintenance, there is traditionally an excess of funds after they have paid for their expenses.

In mediation, we help each of you to prepare a Monthly Budget Worksheet. This allows each spouse to reasonably, accurately, and realistically determine their anticipated expenses after divorce. During a series of budget discussions, guided by your mediator, you will be able to clarify and balance expenses in a mutually-agreeable way.

For example, let’s look at a situation where divorcing parents have a daughter who participates in gymnastics. The costs associated with this extracurricular activity are $300 per month. Dad assumes he is paying this expense after the divorce and includes it in his budget. Mom also assumes she is paying 100% off this expense and includes it in her budget. When they review the budgets together with the mediator, they see overlap and discuss how this expense will actually be paid. Dad agrees to pay 100% of this expense. Then, the figures are adjusted, keeping Dad’s overall expenses the same, but reducing Mom’s by $300 per month. If Mom’s previously had a monthly shortfall of $1000, she now has only a $700 shortfall.

By creatively working toward agreements regarding expense division, and by also agreeing on how assets are best divided, the benefit to both spouses is maximized and accomplishes the best possible agreements regarding spousal support. The result is that both Mom and Dad are as financially stable and secure as possible.

Mediation encourages creativity when establishing how and when Arizona spousal support will be paid to create financial stability for both spouses. Spouses can also agree that some payments will be made directly to certain vendors instead of to the other spouse. Lump-sum Spousal Maintenance is a consideration that can benefit both spouses.

The Litigation Approach

In litigation, there is no set formula to determine the amount or duration of support and so it is determined at the courts discretion.

The courts must conduct a full review of all spousal support factors outlined by law and there is no way of accurately predicting what a judge will order. There is virtually no consistency among judges, or even among individual judge’s orders.

Perhaps the most important variable for those in litigation is the assigned judge. Studies have shown that when multiple judges were asked to award spousal maintenance given the same fictitious facts, spousal maintenance awards ranged in responses from no spousal maintenance award to a lifetime award of spousal maintenance and everything in between.

Types of Spousal Maintenance in Arizona

There are many forms of alimony in Arizona, ranging from those with set terms of duration to those with staggered plans that lower the amount of support over time. During the divorce process itself, a judge may award:

• Temporary Spousal Maintenance
• Permanent Spousal Maintenance
• Rehabilitative Spousal Maintenance
• Limited or Reimbursement Spousal Maintenance

Temporary Spousal Maintenance or “pendente lite”

—meaning, “pending the final divorce.” This award established spousal maintenance during divorce proceedings to keep both parties financially stable during the process.

In mediation, we discuss Temporary Spousal Maintenance agreements when clients are financially separating during the divorce process and need financial stability via support payments. Note that in mediation, instead of an order for temporary spousal support being unilaterally mandated by a judge (which both spouses may be very unhappy about), spouses reach agreements together about the amount and duration of temporary spousal support with the help and guidance of a skilled mediator.

Although one spouse may pay a lump sum spousal maintenance award, it is more commonly paid as a monthly amount for a specific length of time.

Permanent Spousal Maintenance

—meaning there is no established deadline. This type of spousal maintenance is becoming increasingly rare, even after longer marriages. Arizona courts tend to look at maintenance as rehabilitative. The courts generally only award permanent maintenance to spouses who are unable to become self-supporting — due, for example, to age or disability — and even then, only after long marriages.

Rehabilitative Spousal Maintenance

—in other words, spousal maintenance to allow a spouse to find a job or obtain training and education to improve employment prospects. In longer-term marriages, depending on the circumstances, this can still mean longer-term awards.

Limited or Reimbursement Spousal Maintenance

—is awarded by the courts when a spouse contributed to the advanced education and earning capacity of the other spouse.

In mediation, spouses may mutually agree to provide one spouse with long-term or permanent maintenance, as long as both agree to this form of payment structure.

Termination of Spousal Maintenance in Arizona

Generally, under Arizona law, spousal maintenance terminates upon:

• the remarriage of the spouse receiving support;
• the death of either spouse; and/or
• the termination of the spousal maintenance term.

Although this is the default under Arizona law, in mediation, spouses may mutually agree to more or fewer termination factors. Sometimes, the creative terms developed in mediation regarding termination of support can make the difference between stalemate and full agreement. For example, a payor may agree to a longer duration than the payor believes is most fair, in exchange for an added termination factor that upon the recipient earning income of $60,000 or more per year, spousal maintenance will terminate.

Paying Spousal Support in Arizona

Alimony payments are traditionally ordered to be made through an Income Withholding Order from the paying spouse’s paycheck. This means that the court’s order directs the employer of the spouse to deduct the amount of spousal maintenance directly from their paycheck, and then the employer sends the money to the Clearinghouse, who then sends the money to the receiving spouse. Self-employed or unemployed spouses must make spousal maintenance payments directly to the Clearinghouse.

In mediation, you can mutually agree to have payments made via automatic direct deposit. Some spouses prefer this method to avoid involvement of the state in the payment of support or for the sake of convenience.