What are the factors for determining permanent maintenance in a Louisville divorce? The firs concept to cover here is the difference between “temporary” maintenance orders and “permanent” maintenance orders. Temporary orders are issued by the Court usually at the outset of the case or early in the divorce process. Temporary orders exist until they are replaced by “permanent” orders. Permanent orders simply means the issue has been resolved and these will be the final orders on the matter going forward.
It is especially important in terms of maintenance to understand “permanent” in this case does not mean “forever.” It simply means the final order going forward. The purpose of permanent maintenance is to provide the recipient with a financial standard as close to the couple’s marital standard of living until the recipient can become self-sufficient. The basic issues in maintenance are the recipients need for support, and the payors ability to pay it. Determining permanent maintenance in a Louisville divorce will be based upon a number of additional factors.
The most important of these is the duration of the underlying marriage. In Kentucky, a marriage is considered to be “long-term” after 10 years. If the duration of the marriage lasted less than 10 years, the length of maintenance will usually not exceed half the number of years the couple was married. In a six year marriage, maintenance would generally last up to 3 years. This is not exact law, but a reliable rough guide.
Additional factors the Judge will take into consideration when determining permanent maintenance in a Louisville divorce is the earning capacity and marketable skills of each party, their age and relative health, taxes and any other issue the Court deems to be “fair” to consider such as the division of marital property, and the existence of substantial “separate” property.
The divorce and family law attorneys at Dodd & Dodd provide sound advice and counsel on all family matters including questions of maintenance. We invite you to review the strong recommendations of our former clients and contact us or call 502-584-1108 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced divorce and family law attorneys.
