Arizona Alimony and Spousal Maintenance Laws

How does the Court handle support (alimony) or maintenance?

The court can award spousal maintenance to either spouse, if the spouse seeking maintenance: lacks sufficient property to provide for his or her reasonable needs; or is unable to support him or herself through appropriate employment; or is the custodian of a child whose age and condition is such that the custodian should not be required to seek employment outside the home; or lacks earning ability in the labor market to adequately support him or herself; or contributed to the educational opportunities of the other spouse; or had a marriage of long duration and is of an age which may preclude the possibility of gaining employment adequate to support him or herself.

Marital misconduct is not a factor to be considered for maintenance order. The factors to be considered are:
1. time for the spouse to acquire education and training for suitable employment;
2. spouse’s future earning capacity;
3. spouse’s standard of living during the marriage;
4. duration of the marriage;
5. ability of the spouse providing maintenance to meet his or her needs while providing the maintenance to the other;
6. financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance (including marital property awarded and the spouse’s ability to meet his or her needs independently);
7. destruction, concealment, fraudulent disposition, or excessive expenditures of jointly-held property;
8. comparative financial resources of the spouses including their comparative earning capacities;
9. age of the spouses;
10. physical and emotional condition of the spouses;
11. usual occupations of the spouses during the marriage; and
12. vocational skills of the spouse seeking maintenance.