Alimony arguments often start with a number someone heard from a friend. Colorado offers a better starting point: an advisory formula, with a court worksheet that runs it. The math will not tell you what a judge will order. It shows where the conversation is likely to begin.
For couples in Douglas County and the wider Denver metro area, PalmerFamilyLaw is a Parker firm that handles only family law cases, including spousal maintenance. The firm offers a free 30-minute consultation, which is a sensible time to test the numbers below against your own facts. This article is general information, not legal advice, and it cannot predict the result in any case.
When Does Colorado’s Maintenance Formula Apply?
Colorado calls alimony “maintenance.” The Douglas County court’s maintenance advisement form sets out when the advisory guidelines may apply. The spouses must have been married at least three years. Their combined gross annual income must be $240,000 or less.
The same form says marriages shorter than 36 months do not require the worksheet. For marriages of 36 months or more, the advisement is required even if both spouses want to waive maintenance.
Before any maintenance is granted, the court must still consider a list of factors. The form names 13 of them, including:
- Financial resources of the parties, including need and ability to pay
- Distribution of marital property
- Income, employment and employability of each party
- Duration of the marriage
- Age and health status of each party
- Need and duration of education for the lower-earning party
- Significant economic or non-economic contributions to the marriage
The final factor is “any and all other relevant factors.” Two couples with the same incomes can end up with different results.
How Is the Monthly Guideline Amount Calculated?
The advisement form breaks the formula into lettered lines:
- Take 40% of the higher earner’s gross monthly income (line A).
- Take 50% of the lower earner’s gross monthly income (line B).
- Subtract line B from line A (line C).
- Take 40% of both spouses’ combined gross monthly income (line D).
- Subtract the lower earner’s gross monthly income from line D (line F).
- Use the smaller of line C and line F as the form’s figure (line G).
- Because maintenance is no longer deductible or taxable, Colorado law reduces this figure to 80% where combined income is USD 10,000 a month or less, or 75% where it is over USD 10,000 up to USD 20,000.
In a hypothetical couple, one spouse earns USD 8,000 a month gross and the other earns USD 3,000. Their combined income is USD 132,000 a year (USD 11,000 a month), which is under the threshold.
Worksheet line | Monthly amount (USD) |
|---|---|
Line A: 40% of the higher income | 3,200 |
Line B: 50% of the lower income | 1,500 |
Line C: A minus B | 1,700 |
Line D: 40% of combined income | 4,400 |
Line F: D minus the lower income | 1,400 |
Line G: the smaller of C and F | 1,400 |
Statutory adjustment: 75% of line G | 1,050 |
In this example, line F is the smaller figure, so the form’s figure is USD 1,400 a month. After the 75% statutory adjustment, the guideline payment would be about USD 1,050. Line F works as a ceiling. It stops the payment from lifting the lower earner above 40% of the couple’s combined gross income.
The form is blunt about this number. The guidelines “DO NOT create any presumption that maintenance will be ordered.” Absent an agreement, the court keeps full discretion over whether to award maintenance and how much.
How Long Would Guideline Maintenance Last?
The term comes from a table in the same form, based on full months of marriage. Each length has a percentage, and that share of the months married gives the suggested term. Some sample rows:
- 36 months married: 31%, for a suggested term of 11 months
- 60 months married: 35%, for a suggested term of 21 months
- 78 months married: 38%, for a suggested term of 30 months
- 120 months married: 45%, for a suggested term of 54 months
- 150 months married: 50%, for a suggested term of 75 months
- 240 months married: 50%, for a suggested term of 120 months
The percentage reaches 50% at 150 months, or 12.5 years, and stays there. The printed table ends at 240 months, which is 20 years. For longer marriages, ask a Colorado family lawyer how courts there approach the term.
What Changes the Number In Real Life?
Taxes are the first surprise for many people. Under IRS Topic 452, the payer cannot deduct alimony paid under a divorce or separation agreement executed after 2018. The recipient does not include those payments in gross income. Agreements executed before 2019 follow the older rules, unless a later modification expressly says the repeal applies. The IRS also states that child support is never deductible and is not considered income.
This tax change is why Colorado applies the 80% or 75% adjustment shown in the worked example above.
Temporary payments matter too. The form lists temporary maintenance, and the number of months paid, among its factors.
Agreements change the picture as well. Many couples settle maintenance through divorce mediation rather than leaving it to a judge. Once an order is in place, ignoring it carries risk, and unpaid support can lead to contempt proceedings.
Five Things to Have Ready Before the Worksheet
- Gross monthly income for each spouse, from pay stubs or tax returns
- The length of the marriage in full months
- A completed Sworn Financial Statement (JDF 1111), which the Douglas County form asks parties to bring to the status conference
- The date any separation or divorce agreement was signed, because it decides the federal tax treatment
- A record of any temporary maintenance already paid, with dates and amounts
A Starting Figure, Not a Verdict
The guideline gives both spouses the same starting point, but it does not decide the case. A judge weighs the factors, and the result may differ in amount, length, or whether maintenance is awarded at all. Running the math early helps you ask a local family lawyer better questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Colorado Have an Alimony Calculator?
Yes. The Douglas County advisement form points parties to a calculator on the Colorado Judicial Branch’s support payments page. You can also complete the manual worksheet in the form itself.
Can Maintenance Be Ordered In a Marriage Shorter Than Three Years?
The advisory guidelines are framed for marriages of at least three years. The form says marriages under 36 months do not require the worksheet. Whether any maintenance is possible in a shorter marriage depends on the facts, so ask a lawyer.
Is Spousal Maintenance Taxed by the IRS?
For agreements executed after 2018, the payer cannot deduct it and the recipient does not report it as income. Older agreements follow the earlier rules unless a later modification expressly adopts the change.
Can a Maintenance Order Be Changed Later?
Often it can, if circumstances change in a way that is substantial and continuing enough to make the existing terms unfair. Spouses can also agree to make maintenance non-modifiable, which limits later changes. A family lawyer can explain how your own order was written.
