Question

My husband and I have been separated for a few months, and we’re headed towards a formal dissolution of our marriage.  A few of my friends have told me that I better be prepared to pay a bunch of alimony to him because I make a lot more money than he does.   Is this true?  I thought alimony is only paid to wives?  If I do have to pay, how much will  I have to pay and for how long?

Answer

When discussing divorce, it’s not uncommon for people to throw around the term alimony, which by many people is still understood to be a man paying his ex-wife a substantial sum of money for years and years after a divorce. However, the Washington courts have done away with the term, as well as the traditional understanding of “alimony.”

Instead, Washington family courts now deal with the gender-neutral concept of “maintenance.”  And, the goal of maintenance is a practical one – to provide financial support to a less advantaged spouse for a period of time after a divorce so that they may seek education or otherwise develop job skills so that they might be financial independent in the future.

RCW 26.09.090 sets out the various factors that a court considers when determining whether to award maintenance, and if so at what amount and duration.

(1) In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation, declaration of invalidity… the court may grant a maintenance order for either spouse or either domestic partner. The maintenance order shall be in such amounts and for such periods of time as the court deems just, without regard to misconduct, after considering all relevant factors including but not limited to:

(a) The financial resources of the party seeking maintenance, including separate or community property apportioned to him or her, and his or her ability to meet his or her needs independently, including the extent to which a provision for support of a child living with the party includes a sum for that party;

(b) The time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find employment appropriate to his or her skill, interests, style of life, and other attendant circumstances;

(c) The standard of living established during the marriage or domestic partnership;

(d) The duration of the marriage or domestic partnership;

(e) The age, physical and emotional condition, and financial obligations of the spouse or domestic partner seeking maintenance; and

(f) The ability of the spouse or domestic partner from whom maintenance is sought to meet his or her needs and financial obligations while meeting those of the spouse or domestic partner seeking maintenance.

Note that the statute explicitly states that maintenance may be paid by either spouse or domestic partner.  So, in Washington either a wife or a husband may be ordered to pay maintenance to the other, after a consideration of the various factors such as the length of the marriage, the difference, if any, between each spouse’s income, the resources of the other spouse, and the amount of time that the spouse who receives maintenance will need to establish financial independence.

So, the answer to the question is “maybe” – and it depends on how the facts of your own marriage interplay with all of the factors above.  And gender isn’t one of them.