August 2024 Changes to MN Spousal Maintenance - Types of Maintenance

CHANGING TERMS TO TRANSITIONAL AND INDEFINITE

On August 1, 2024, new laws changing the Minnesota spousal maintenance statute officially went into effect. The Minnesota Statute which addresses spousal maintenance (alimony, spousal support) has been amended to provide more consistency for spouses who are divorcing, or for spouses who are modifying spousal maintenance. Spousal maintenance is one of the most litigated issues in a dissolution of marriage, in part because the laws regarding maintenance were open to interpretation. Judges have discretion to award different amounts for different lengths of time based on the individual facts of a case. The new law provides more structure within which those decisions will be made.

One important change in the statute is a change in terms used to describe how long maintenance should be paid. The prior version of the law labeled maintenance as either “temporary” or “permanent”. Neither of those terms though accurately described the duration of maintenance.

Temporary Maintenance is replaced with Transitional Maintenance

The word temporary implies a short period of time. Maintenance could on for several years, and a spouse could motion the court to continue maintenance for many years, even if it was labeled as “temporary”. The new term is “transitional”. The intention of transitional maintenance is that that it is financial support paid to bridge a gap between the time a party gets divorced, and the time it will take for a party to improve their financial situation. Spouses improve their financial situation by increasing their work hours, going to school, getting more training, or just getting into the work force. Spouse who are awarded transitional maintenance are expected to take efforts to improve their financial situation.

Permanent Maintenance is replaced with Indefinite Maintenance

Likewise, permanent maintenance didn’t mean it was actually permanent. Permanent implies a spouse will pay maintenance forever, until they die; however, there are many reasons the obligor would motion the court to stop paying maintenance. A person could request to stop paying if s/he lost a job, retired, got sick, or if the person originally in need was no longer financially dependent on the obligor. That is still true, but the term “indefinite” more accurately describes how long maintenance will go. Indefinite means there is no pre-determined deadline when it stops. The obligor will have to file a motion at some point when circumstance change to request that maintenance end.

Please see the different posts addressing other new changes in the law. This article specifically addresses the change in the terms to describe the two types of maintenance.

If you are considering a divorce and have questions about spousal maintenance, contact Christine Callahan, an experienced family law attorney, for more information.