In Colorado, the statute provides that the maintenance calculation applies only to situations where the combined adjusted gross income is at or below $20,000 per month ($240,000 per year).
For incomes above this threshold, the statute specifies that maintenance is to be negotiated or decided on a case-by-case basis, based on all the facts and circumstances.
In these high-income cases, you will see on the Maintenance Worksheet a line labeled “Combined AGI is above $20,000. No maintenance is calculated.”
The Analysis tab > FLS Maintce Formula is ideal for calculating spousal maintenance on a case-by-case basis. Please check it out!
Family Law Software has several other maintenance calculators which take different approaches: Balance Incomes and Meet Recipient Need. Try them all, and you will be able to choose the calculator that is best for each situation.
Having said that, many attorneys and clients want to see what the formula would be if extended beyond the $20,000 threshold.
Family Law Software provides that ability.
Here are the steps:
- Go to the Enter Data > Support and Maintce Data screen (this is the screen where you enter the child support information).
- At the top, click “Complete.”
- Scroll down to the section labeled “Spousal Maintenance to use in the Budget Report, What If, Sworn Financial Statement, and Child Support.” (This is near the bottom of the page.)
- On line 2, specify a percent to apply to the “40% of combined minus 100% of lower-income spouse amount” value. (This is the key step of the maintenance calculation.) The software suggests the statutory amount, but you can feel free to override it. This entry is highlighted in the image below.
- This will be the “calculated” spousal support amount.
You can then go to line 3a (shown in the image below) and enter that amount as the negotiated spousal support amount.
If you use the FLS Maintce Formula instead, you would enter the amount from that calculator in line 3a.
The maintenance amount on line 3a is used in the child support calculation.