Spousal Support

In Arizona, certain spouses may be entitled to ongoing financial assistance from their former spouse after the divorce. Arizona courts refer to this as spousal maintenance, also commonly referred to as spousal support or alimony. Spousal maintenance can be requested by either party, regardless of gender. When determining whether an order of spousal maintenance should be granted or not, the court looks to a number of factors, including:

• The standard of living established during the marriage.

• The duration of the marriage.

• The age, employment history, earning ability and physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance.

• The ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet that spouse's needs while meeting those of the spouse seeking maintenance.

• The comparative financial resources of the spouses, including their comparative earning abilities in the labor market.

• The contribution of the spouse seeking maintenance to the earning ability of the other spouse.

• The extent to which the spouse seeking maintenance has reduced that spouse's income or career opportunities for the benefit of the other spouse.

• The ability of both parties after the dissolution to contribute to the future educational costs of their mutual children.

• The financial resources of the party seeking maintenance, including marital property apportioned to that spouse, and that spouse's ability to meet that spouse's own needs independently.

• The time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment and whether such education or training is readily available.

• Excessive or abnormal expenditures, destruction, concealment or fraudulent disposition of community, joint tenancy and other property held in common.