Maintenance (Alimony)
"Alimony" or maintenance, as it is referred to in the Kentucky statutes, refers
to support paid by one spouse to the other either during the course of litigation
(temporary maintenance) or after the divorce decree. Maintenance can be for a short
duration or for the life of the former spouse. The purpose of maintenance is to
meet the support needs of the spouse or from a spouse who is unable to maintain
the lifestyle accustomed to during the marriage without additional funds. The amount
and length of maintenance varies from state to state.
In Kentucky, the court is required to consider the following factors in setting
maintenance as a set forth in KRS 403.200 including the financial resources of the
party seeking maintenance, the time required for the receiving spouse to acquire
sufficient education or training to find appropriate employment, the standard of
living established during the marriage, the length of the marriage, the age, physical
and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance and the ability of the
spouse from whom maintenance is sought to pay while meeting his or her own basic
needs.
Generally, the amount of maintenance cannot be modified. However, under KRIS 403.250,
there can be a modification if the party paying maintenance can show "changed circumstances
so substantial and continuing as to make the terms unconscionable." Unless otherwise
agreed in writing by the parties, maintenance stops upon the death of either party,
the remarriage of the party receiving the maintenance, or in some cases it is terminated
or reduced if the receiving spouse cohabitates with another person.