One of the issues that creeps up when dealing with a maintenance issue (spousal support), is the question of how long should the term of maintenance be. What are the options when it comes to spousal support?

1. HOLD OPEN.

A “hold open” means a person is reserving the right to go back into court after the divorce and based on a significant and substantial change in circumstances request an award of maintenance. It doesn’t mean or guarantee you are going to receive support, but it means one has the right to do it. A hold open on maintenance may be appropriate where the marriage length is 10 years or longer, and under the circumstances at the time of the divorce, neither party is going to be required to pay maintenance to the other. It is also certainly appropriate in a long term marriage as well, where there may not be any differences in the parties’ earnings or earning capacity, but given how long the parties are married to one another, both of them should have the right to come back into court and ask for financial relief in the event there becomes a need based on a change of circumstances in the future.

2. LIMITED TERM.

This second consideration may be appropriate to consider in shorter term marriages where one party is going to be paying maintenance to the other, but the length of the marriage doesn’t warrant an indefinite support order. Where there is a disparity in the earnings of the parties or one needs continued spousal support to complete their education or become retrained to ultimately secure a good job, limited term maintenance may be appropriate..

3. INDEFINITE.

Indefinite maintenance means exactly that; there is no cutoff point for the termination or cessation of maintenance payments. Maintenance payments would only terminate upon the recipient spouse’s remarriage, or death of either party. Maintenance continues until the matter is brought back into court and the court decides whether there should be modification or termination of the maintenance order. We usually see indefinite maintenance orders in long term marriages. The reverse is also true and that is we don’t commonly see indefinite maintenance orders in shorter term marriages, except in unusual circumstances, such as one of the parties having a chronic medical problem that prevents them from working, or a situation where one party has been out of the workforce for an extended period of time and may not be able to realistically reach a former earning capacity.

If you have questions about maintenance, contact one of our experienced family lawyers today at Karp & Iancu, S.C. for a 100% confidential consultation.