Does marital fault contribute to a maintenance award?

Often, one of the most feared and therefore, contested aspects of a divorce is when one party is ordered by the court to make spousal maintenance payments to the other party. Many times, this also leads clients to wonder whether marital fault plays a party in the spousal maintenance award that is ordered. The bottom line is that no matter what happened to cause the couple to get a divorce, a spousal maintenance or alimony award is never a definite outcome.

Despite the fact that marital fault has nothing to do with a spousal maintenance award, there is a possibility of recovering half of any money that was spent by a spouse who was having an extramarital affair. This is only the case if the spouse used marital funds to contribute to the affair. In order to pursue this award, the divorcing couple will have to cite fault grounds, which may be more trouble than it is worth because the court rarely cares very much about whether cheating was a factor in the marriage.

In some cases, a spouse may be able to prove that the other spouse created a situation that made it difficult for them to become financially independent or create a career. An experienced divorce attorney can help you determine whether spousal maintenance is applicable in your situation.
