Maintenance is Colorado’s word for what most people call alimony, and it is one of the least understood parts of a divorce. It is not automatic, it is not a punishment, and since 2014 it has been guided by an advisory statutory formula that judges consider but do not have to follow.

Whether you expect to pay or to receive, we build a realistic financial picture early, because maintenance is decided after the property division and often settles at mediation once both sides understand the range of likely outcomes.

How we help

• Assessing whether a maintenance claim is realistic under Colorado's advisory guidelines and statutory factors
• Advocacy on both amount and duration, which turn on income, the length of the marriage, and each spouse's circumstances
• Temporary maintenance while a dissolution case is pending
• Negotiated maintenance terms, including contractual and non-modifiable provisions when they make sense
• Modification and termination issues, including the effect of remarriage or a substantial change in income
• Coordinating maintenance with property division and each spouse's overall financial picture

What Colorado Calls Alimony: Maintenance Under C.R.S. 14-10-114

Colorado's statutory term is spousal maintenance, and it is gender-neutral: either spouse can request it, and awards run in both directions.

• Maintenance exists to achieve a fair and equitable result when one spouse cannot meet reasonable needs through their own income and property; it is not a reward or a punishment.
• Because Colorado is no-fault, marital misconduct plays no role in whether maintenance is awarded or how much.
• Maintenance is decided after the property division, because the assets each spouse receives affect their need and ability to pay.
• Temporary maintenance can be ordered while the case is pending to keep both households stable before permanent orders.

The Advisory Guideline Formula

For marriages of at least three years with combined incomes under the statutory cap, C.R.S. 14-10-114 provides an advisory formula: 40 percent of the parties' combined monthly adjusted gross income, minus the lower-earning spouse's monthly adjusted gross income; if the result is zero or negative, the guideline suggests no maintenance.

• The guidelines are advisory, not mandatory: the court must consider them and then make findings, but it can and does deviate when the formula produces an unfair result.
• Above the statutory combined-income cap, the formula does not control and the court decides based on the statutory factors alone.
• The maintenance calculation interacts with child support: maintenance is determined first and adjusts each parent's income in the child support worksheet.
• Accurate income figures drive everything, so bonuses, equity compensation, and self-employment income are frequent battlegrounds in Denver metro cases.

How Long Maintenance Lasts in Colorado

The advisory duration term is a percentage of the length of the marriage, starting around 31 percent for a three-year marriage and rising to 50 percent for marriages of twelve and a half years or longer.

• For marriages of twenty years or more, the court may award maintenance for a specified term or indefinitely, at its discretion.
• Marriages shorter than three years fall outside the guideline table, but maintenance is still possible when the equities support it.
• Duration, like amount, is advisory: judges weigh the recipient's realistic path to self-sufficiency, age, health, and the marital lifestyle.
• Maintenance ends automatically when the recipient remarries or either party dies, unless the parties agreed otherwise in writing.

Factors Beyond the Formula

The statute directs courts to weigh each spouse's financial resources, including income from property awarded in the division and the recipient's earning capacity.

• The lifestyle during the marriage, the length of the marriage, and the distribution of marital property all shape both amount and term.
• Courts consider age and health, employment history, time out of the workforce, and contributions to the household or to the other spouse's career or education.
• A spouse who supported the family while the other built a career or credential can have a strong claim even with moderate incomes.
• Because judges retain broad discretion, well-documented budgets, vocational evidence, and credible income analysis often matter more than the formula printout.

Modifying, Terminating, and Taxes

Court-ordered maintenance can be modified under C.R.S. 14-10-122 when a substantial and continuing change of circumstances makes the existing order unfair, such as involuntary job loss, retirement, or a significant income change.

• Spouses can agree to contractual, non-modifiable maintenance, which trades flexibility for certainty; that choice deserves careful thought before signing.
• Maintenance terminates on the recipient's remarriage or either party's death unless the agreement says otherwise; a payor's remarriage does not end the obligation.
• For federal tax purposes, maintenance under orders entered after 2018 is not deductible by the payor and not taxable income to the recipient, and Colorado's guideline formula already reflects that change.
• Enforcement options for unpaid maintenance include judgments, income assignments, and contempt proceedings.

Local courts and where to file

Maintenance is decided in the same district courts that handle the divorce: Denver (2nd JD), Arapahoe (18th JD), Douglas (23rd JD), Adams and Broomfield (17th JD), and Jefferson (1st JD). Temporary maintenance requests are often heard by magistrates early in metro cases, and higher-earning metro households frequently exceed the guideline's income cap, which pushes those cases into a factor-driven analysis where preparation and financial evidence carry the day.

Last updated August 2026.