Spousal Maintenance in Minnesota

Spousal maintenance — sometimes called alimony — is a court-ordered payment from one spouse to the other after a divorce or legal separation. Its purpose is to limit the financial hardship that can result when one spouse earns significantly more than the other, or when one spouse gave up career opportunities to support the family during the marriage.

Spousal maintenance is not automatic in Minnesota. A court will only award it when the requesting spouse meets certain legal criteria. Whether maintenance is awarded, how much it is, and how long it lasts all depend on the specific facts of the case.

Under Minnesota law, a court may award spousal maintenance if the spouse seeking it either lacks sufficient property — including their share of the marital estate — to provide for their reasonable needs, or is unable to support themselves through appropriate employment.

The second ground often applies when a spouse has been out of the workforce for an extended period, lacks marketable job skills, or has primary responsibility for caring for a child whose condition or circumstances make it inappropriate to require that parent to seek employment outside the home.

If a spouse qualifies for maintenance, the court then determines the amount and duration by weighing a list of statutory factors, including:

• The financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance, including marital property awarded and the ability to meet needs independently • The time needed to acquire education or training to find appropriate employment • The standard of living established during the marriage • The length of the marriage and, in the case of a homemaker, the length of absence from employment • The loss of earnings, seniority, retirement benefits, and other employment opportunities forgone by the spouse seeking maintenance • The age and physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance • The ability of the paying spouse to meet their own needs while paying maintenance • The contribution of each spouse to the acquisition, preservation, depreciation, or appreciation of marital property

No single factor controls the outcome. Courts weigh all relevant circumstances together.

Maintenance can be temporary (rehabilitative) or permanent (long-term), depending on the circumstances.

Temporary maintenance is the most common type. It is designed to support a spouse while they gain the education, training, or work experience needed to become self-supporting. It has a defined end date, after which payments stop.

Permanent maintenance is less common and is typically reserved for long marriages where one spouse is unlikely to become fully self-supporting — for example, due to age, health, or a very long absence from the workforce. Even "permanent" maintenance can be modified or terminated if circumstances change significantly.

While a divorce case is pending, a spouse can ask the court for a temporary maintenance order to cover living expenses during the proceedings. Temporary orders are separate from the final maintenance award and are designed to maintain the status quo while the case is resolved. They do not necessarily predict what the final order will look like.

A spousal maintenance order can be modified if there has been a substantial change in circumstances that makes the existing order unreasonable and unfair. Common grounds include a significant change in either spouse's income, the receiving spouse becoming self-supporting, remarriage of the receiving spouse, or a serious health issue affecting either party.

Remarriage of the receiving spouse automatically terminates maintenance in Minnesota unless the parties agreed otherwise in writing. Cohabitation with a new partner does not automatically end maintenance, but it can be a factor in a modification proceeding.

Spousal maintenance and property division are separate issues, but they are related. A spouse who receives a larger share of the marital estate may have less need for ongoing maintenance. Conversely, a spouse who receives little property and has limited earning capacity is more likely to need maintenance support. An experienced attorney can help you think through how these two issues interact and develop a strategy that serves your long-term financial interests.

Under current federal tax law (for divorce agreements finalized after December 31, 2018), spousal maintenance payments are neither deductible by the paying spouse nor taxable income to the receiving spouse. This is a significant change from prior law and affects how maintenance should be negotiated. Consulting with both a family law attorney and a tax professional is advisable when maintenance is at issue.