Maintenance in New York State comes in two flavors, (1) Pendente Lite maintenance (Temporary Maintenance), and (2) post litigation maintenance.

Pendente lite simply means "while the litigation is pending," and denotes the payments the monied spouse is required to make to the non-monied spouse while a divorce action is pending.As of October, 2010 the New York Legislature has stepped in and provided New York Courts and Attorneys with a formula akin to that used in the calculation of child support.  Although the formula is a somewhat more complicated than the child support formula, like the child support guideline it is ultimately based on each parties' yearly income, and the disparities thereof.

An online temporary maintenance calculatior is provided by the New York State Uniform Court System here (*please note that certain calculations must be performed before each party's income may properly be entered).

Post litigation maintenance on the other hand does not use any set statutory formula regarding either the amount of the payments, or their duration. Instead, courts consider various factors such as the size of the disparity in incomes, the length of the marriage, and the unmonied spouse's ability to become self supporting. Very generally speaking, the longer the marriage, and the less ability the unmonied spouse has to become self-supporting, the longer the time period maintenance will be required. However, it should be mentioned that courts rarely grant lifetime maintenance.

If you are interested in your rights or obligations concerning spousal maintenance, you should call my office for a consultation. I would be happy to provide you with a reliable and honest assessment of your case.

Do you have questions or do you want to make an appointment to discuss divorce in Nassau County?

Call me at (516) 513-1300 or use our contact form.