Marc and I have been practicing law together for 10 years; and before that we practiced at different firms for many years. During our combined 40+ years of practicing law, we’ve spent a lot of time speaking with clients, other lawyers, and judges about spousal maintenance and what it means.
Here’s what I can tell you about spousal maintenance in Minnesota:
- Spousal maintenance is based on a spouse’s need; and
- Before a court can award spousal maintenance, the court must determine whether:
- a spouse lacks sufficient property to provide for reasonable needs considering the standard of living established during the marriage;
- OR
- a spouse is able to provide adequate self-support after considering the standard of living established during the marriage and all relevant circumstances.
The above language is pulled from Minnesota Statute §518.552 subd. 2, the law that Minnesota courts follow when deciding spousal maintenance requests.
The underlining is mine, and it’s purposeful. That’s because the concept of ‘standard of living established during the marriage’ represents the ‘measuring stick’ that courts use to determine whether maintenance should awarded to a spouse, and if so, how much.
In fact the words ‘standard of living established during the marriage’ show up a total of 3 times in Section 518.552. Have a look at this language from Section 518.552 that talks about what a court must consider when figuring out how much maintenance a a court should award:
- The standard of living established during the marriage and the extent to which the standard of living was funded by debt.
Yep. It’s an important phrase; so let’s think about what it actually means. In deciding whether to award spousal maintenance, courts will try to square a spouse’s needs with the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage. This gives courts considerable leeway into playing ‘Monday Morning Quarterback’ by looking at how a couple spent their money during marriage.
Courts have the authority (in fact they’re required) to second-guess marital spending. If a married couple spends beyond their means, the court gets to “slash” their budget and come up with a new one. For example, in 2000 the Minnesota Court of Appeals in Chamberlain v. Chamberlain, affirmed a trial court’s decision to consider the ‘affluent lifestyle’ enjoyed by the married couple, in determining whether to award maintenance, BUT, the court also discarded many of the ‘unreasonable expenses’ (plastic surgeries, fancy restaurants) sought to be included by the spouse seeking spousal maintenance. 615 N.W.2d 405 (Minn. Ct. App. 2000).
If you are considering making a request for spousal maintenance in a Minnesota divorce, expect that your spending history will be scrutinized by the trial court, and a history of deficit spending will likely be reason for rebuke by the court.
Meet Tim Simonson
Tim has been practicing for more than twenty (20) years now, He's handled divorce, child support, child custody, third party and grandparent rights, domestic abuse, parenting time, and many other areas of family law. He always enjoys the chance to meet people and see whether he can help find solutions to their legal problems.
Contact Beyer & Simonson
If you are facing divorce and any of the divorce-related issues such as spousal maintenance, child support, child custody, property division, or domestic abuse matters, you need our experienced Minneapolis divorce attorneys to help you. Contact Beyer & Simonson in Edina, Minnesota today at (952) 303-6007.
