Frequently Asked Questions about Proposed Maintenance Standards Guidelines
Proposed Maintenance Standards Act
Temporary Maintenance Award Guidelines
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Proposed Maintenance Standards Act
What is the Proposed Maintenance Standards Act?
The Maintenance Standards Act is a new way of thinking about maintenance In practice, it will work very much like the Child Support Standards Act. A formula will be used to arrive at a presumptive dollar amount for a maintenance award, and another formula will be used to determine the presumptive duration of the award. Judges will have discretion to depart from these amounts.
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How will the dollar amount be calculated?
The dollar amount of an award will depend on the incomes of the divorcing parties. Under proposed legislation, awards will be at most 30% of the income of the higher earning spouse. If the other spouse has income, the award will be lower. If the lower earning spouse’s income is two-thirds or more of what the other spouse earns, the presumptive award will be zero.
Divorcing parties will be able to present reasons for departing from the guidelines and, if the presumptive amount produced by the formula seems unfair, a judge may adjust the dollar amount up or down.
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For how long will maintenance be paid?
The longer the marriage, the longer the payments will last. Under proposed legislation, the presumptive duration of the payments will vary from 30% of the length of a marriage for marriages that last less than five years to 100% of the length of the marriage for marriages that last twenty years. Presumptive awards in marriages over twenty-five years will be non-durational.
Again, divorcing parties will be able to present reasons for deviating from the guidelines, and a judge may vary the presumptive duration when the equities of require it.
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Why does New York need maintenance standards guidelines?
First, under existing law, making a claim for maintenance is so difficult that the majority of spouses from low and middle income families who might be entitled to maintenance abandon legitimate claims at the onset of their divorce. Second, divorcing New Yorkers deserve financial settlements that fully recognize marriage as an economic partnership. Third, maintenance standards will make the outcomes for couples who divorce in New York more consistent and more predictable.
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How will this law benefit low and middle income spouses?
Maintenance standards will help people who can't afford to pay for lengthy, expensive divorces. Now divorcing spouses who want maintenance must be prepared to litigate complicated issues. With maintenance standards, the proof would be simple, and claims could be made even in uncontested divorces.
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Temporary Maintenance Award Guidelines
What are temporary maintenance award standards?
Legislation that went into effect in New York on October 12, 2010, directs judges to use a maintenance standards approach for calculating temporary maintenance awards. These awards last for the very critical period during which the divorce is being litigated.
Click here to view New York’s newly enacted temporary guidelines legislation.
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How are temporary maintenance awards calculated under New York guidelines?
For divorce cases filed after October 12, 2010, temporary maintenance awards are calculated using guidelines like those proposed for final maintenance standards awards. Briefly, a formula is used to reach a presumptive amount. In most cases, the formula gives the spouse with fewer resources a income from all sources that is at least 30% and no more than 40% of the divorcing couples’ household income. The more income the potential payee spouse has, the lower the award. If the potential payee spouse has an income that is 66% or more of the other spouse’s income, the presumptive award will be zero.
The New York State Office for Court Administration has created software for calculating the amount of the award.
Click here to view this software. http://www.nycourts.gov/divorce/calculator.pdf Fill in parties’ incomes in Part I and hit enter. Part III of the form provides the presumptive amount of the award.
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What if the amount produced by the temporary maintenance standards formula seems inappropriate?
If the presumptive amount seems inappropriate or unjust, a judge can consider a set of statutory factors and adjust the amount upward or downward. These factors include things such as the age and health of the parties.
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Do the temporary maintenance standards eliminate the need for final maintenance standards?
No. New Yorkers need a law that will provide them with final awards that are predictable, consistent, and fair.
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