1) Who is entitled to maintenance (alimony), and what are the criteria for awarding it?
Maintenance (formerly known as alimony, and in some states called spousal support) may be awarded to either spouse as the court deems just. Marital misconduct is not to be considered in awarding alimony. Maintenance may be paid from the income or property of the other spouse after consideration of all relevant factors, including:

1. the income and property of each party, including marital property apportioned and non-marital property assigned to the party seeking maintenance
2. the needs of each party
3. the present and future earning capacity of each party
4. any impairment of the present and future earning capacity of the party seeking maintenance due to that party devoting time to domestic duties or having foregone or delayed education, training, employment, or career opportunities due to the marriage
5. the time necessary to enable the party seeking maintenance to acquire appropriate education, training, and employment, and whether that party is able to support himself or herself through appropriate employment or is the custodian of a child making it appropriate that the custodian not seek employment
6. the standard of living established during the marriage
7. the duration of the marriage
8. the age and the physical and emotional condition of both parties
9. the tax consequences of the property division upon the respective economic circumstances of the parties
10. contributions and services by the party seeking maintenance to the education, training, career or career potential, or license of the other spouse
11. any valid agreement of the parties; and
12. any other factor that the court expressly finds to be just and equitable.

2) Can a spouse be awarded temporary maintenance during the pendency of the divorce proceeding?
During the pendency of the divorce action, temporary maintenance may be awarded. The temporary maintenance order ends when the judgment for dissolution is entered.

3) How long does maintenance last?
Once the judgment for dissolution is entered, a spouse receiving maintenance is expected to make good faith efforts, considering his or her age, skills, and life experience, to become self-supporting. Short-term rehabilitative maintenance may be awarded to enable the receiving spouse to gain skills for self-support. Where both spouses are able to support themselves, even if one earns substantially more than the other, maintenance may not ordinarily be awarded. The disparity in economic position could be equalized by agreement of the parties, or by the court after trial, by distributing a disproportionate share of the marital estate to the lesser-earning spouse. Maintenance may be ordered for a set period and reviewed again to see if it should continue as is, be modified, or be ended. If a spouse can establish that he or she will be unable or unlikely to be able to become self-supporting, maintenance may be permanent.

4) Can maintenance be modified or terminated?
The parties may agree to make maintenance non-modifiable, or modifiable under certain specified circumstances. If they do not agree to non-modifiable maintenance, a maintenance award will terminate automatically upon the death, remarriage or unmarried conjugal live-in relationship of the spouse being maintained.

5) What "change in circumstances" will support a petition for modification of maintenance?
Material change in circumstances might include increased or decreased ability to pay, or a substantial change in the needs of either party. The same factors are to be considered in modifying as in an initial award of maintenance. A spouse receiving maintenance has an affirmative obligation to make an effort to become self-supporting. A court may limit the length of time maintenance is paid based upon all the circumstances.

6) Does the supporting spouse's retirement justify termination or a decrease in maintenance?
Whether voluntary retirement will justify modification of maintenance depends upon the circumstances of the individual case. Relevant factors include the age, health status, motives and timing for the retirement, ability to pay maintenance after retirement, and the other spouse's ability to provide for himself or herself.