Homemaker Gets Raise and Becomes Breadwinner

As of October 12, 2010, there will now be guidelines to temporary awards of alimony/maintenance, which would only result in an award when there is an income gap between the two parties such that the less-monied spouse's income is less than two thirds of the more monied spouse's income. 

For instance, if the payor's annual income is $90,000 a year, the guidelines will only result in an award if the payee's annual income is less than $60,000.  The numerical guideline is only applied to the payor's income up to $500,000 of her/his income, with a set of factors to be applied by the court to determine any additional amount of temporary maintenance on the payor's income above this $500,000 cap.  The guidelines also include protections for individuals whose annual income is less than the self-support reserve (135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines - currently $14,620/year).   Determining the guideline amount, the court must compare two calculations of the spouses' annual incomes. For both of these calculations, any income of the payor's that exceeds $500,000 is not included.