In a divorce case, the court is authorized to order
spousal support for either spouse. Most people use the term "alimony," but Arizona law uses the phrase, "spousal maintenance" instead. Either spouse can be required to pay maintenance.
The parties may agree in writing as to maintenance, subject to a finding by the court that the maintenance agreement is not unfair. In the absence of an agreement, the court has authority to award maintenance in an appropriate case in such amounts and for such periods of time as it deems just. The court will NOT take marital misconduct into consideration, except damages and judgments from conduct that resulted in a criminal conviction of either spouse in which the other spouse or a child was a victim. But the court will consider a variety of other relevant factors.
A valid maintenance award requires a valid marriage and a valid divorce decree--Arizona courts do not award "palimony."
By statute, maintenance may be awarded to a spouse meets any one of the following conditions:
1. The spouse acks sufficient property, including property apportioned to such by the divorce decree, to provide for his or her reasonable needs, or
2. The spouse is unable to be self-sufficient through appropriate employment or is the custodian of a child whose age or condition is such that the custodian should not be required to seek employment outside the home or lacks earning ability in the labor market adequate to be self-sufficient, or
3. The spouse contributed to the educational opportunities of the other spouse, or
4. The marriage was of long duration and the spous is of an age which may preclude the possibility of gaining employment adequate to be self-sufficient.
Determination of the need (or now other new statutory reason) for maintenance is in the discretion of the trial court. Maintenance may be awarded for any of the reasons listed above. The duty to provide support is not satisfied because the other spouse is being cared for by a child. An obligation to pay spousal maintenance cannot be avoided by voluntarily reducing the ability to pay.
Prior to the 1987 changes in the maintenance statute, the spouse requesting support had to establish lack of sufficient property to provide for his or her reasonable needs and inability to support himself or herself. Under the 1987 changes, the Court of Appeals stated that the purpose of the statute delineating the standards for awarding spousal maintenance was to encourage the court to provide for the financial needs of spouses by property division rather than by the award of maintenance.
Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the decree, the obligation to pay future maintenance continues until either the death of either party or the remarriage of the party receiving maintenance.
A court cannot reject a prenuptial waiver of spousal maintenance unless the court inquires into the circumstances of the agreement and finds that there was some sort of problem with the formation of the agreement (which is a topic unto itself).
In 2002, the Legislature slightly amended the reasons a court may award maintenance. Specifically, the Legislature chose the term to be self-sufficient"; previously, the statutory language was "to support him or herself". There were cases under the prior language holding that a spouse can be awarded maintenance without showing a total inability to support him-or-herself. The appellate courts have not ruled on whether the 2002 amendment changes this. Generally speaking, however, the courts assume that a statutory amendment was intended to make some sort of difference.
When determining an award of spousal maintenance, the court must not consider any federal disability benefits awarded to the other spouse for service-connected disabilities when determining whether to award spousal maintenance or the amount of any award of spousal maintenance.
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