Divorce

Alimony, also called “maintenance,” is the financial support that your spouse pays you or that you pay your spouse. In Idaho, if you ask for maintenance, a judge may grant it if:

• you do not have enough property, money, and assets to pay for your own reasonable needs; and
• you can’t support yourself by working.¹

If the judge grants you maintenance, s/he will decide how much you should get, and for how long, after considering several factors, including:

• your financial resources, including any property you got in the divorce
• whether you can meet your financial needs on your own;
• how long it will take you to get the education and training you need to find a job;
• how long you were married;
• your age and physical and emotional condition;
• whether your spouse can meet his/her own financial needs while also paying you maintenance;
• the tax consequences of a maintenance order to each spouse; and
• whether either spouse was at fault for the divorce.²

Once the judge orders maintenance, you can only ask to change the order if there is a major (“substantial and material”) change in circumstances that requires adjusting the order. If the judge agrees to change it, the change will only apply to future payments.³

¹ I.C. § 32-705(1)
² I.C. § 32-705(2)
³ I.C. § 32-709(1)