Castle Rock Alimony Attorneys

If you live in Colorado and are currently in the process of a divorce after being married for a long time, the likelihood of you paying alimony is very high. How long you will be paying, or whether you will pay at all, will be determined by the Colorado divorce court based on certain factors, such as yours and your spouse’s standard of living prior to marriage and your ability to pay.

Colorado divorce judges generally award lifetime alimony where the marriage was longer than 20 years. Alimony in Colorado ends upon the death of either spouse or remarriage of the spouse receiving alimony. Some of the factors the courts look at when determining who pays alimony and how much include financial resources of the spouse seeking it and his or her ability to meet their needs on their own without spousal support; duration of the marriage; age and physical condition of the spouse seeking alimony; time necessary to get sufficient education or training to become self-supporting; and the ability of the spouse from whom alimony is sought to meet their own needs in addition to paying alimony.

The good thing about alimony payments is that they are tax deductible for the person paying it and taxable income for the person receiving it. The payments must be in cash and spelled out in your divorce decree in order to be tax deductible. In addition, you cannot file a joint return and claim the tax deduction. Should you fail to pay alimony, your spouse can sue you for the payments. You may also be ordered to pay your spouse’s attorney and court costs.

Contact the Castle Rock Alimony Attorneys at Ellmann & Ellmann, P.C. to discuss your specific situation.