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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.