Spousal Maintenance Guidelines in AZ – Rule of 65
Of all the new principles contained within the recent release of Spousal Maintenance Guidelines, the Rule of 65 seems to have garnered the most attention. Perhaps it is because the change is novel. Perhaps it is because it involves math (a lawyer’s kryptonite). But when the new Spousal Maintenance GuidelinesFirst adopted in 2023, these are a set of rules and principles that a Court must follow in determining whether to award spousal maintenance and for how long and for how much. They contain rules regarding eligibility, the seven-step process of determining an amount and duration…Read more about Spousal Maintenance Guidelines are studied in context, it’s a small part of the overall Spousal MaintenanceThese are payments made from one spouse to another when one spouse cannot financially meet their reasonable needs on their own. The law permits spousal maintenance (or alimony as it’s called in other states) for several reasons—to help maintain the lifestyle the parties enjoyed…Read more about Spousal Maintenance scheme.
Important information about the updated guidelines
- The Spousal Maintenance Guidelines are designed to help judges determine eligibility, amount, and duration of spousal maintenance.
- When a Court has determined someone is eligible and entitled to Spousal MaintenanceThese are payments made from one spouse to another when one spouse cannot financially meet their reasonable needs on their own. The law permits spousal maintenance (or alimony as it’s called in other states) for several reasons—to help maintain the lifestyle the parties enjoyed…Read more about Spousal Maintenance, the Court must then determine amount and duration. The Guidelines provide a range for both.
- The Court can order an amount that differs from the amount range if it finds the amount would be unjust. But the Court must order a duration that falls within the duration range unless the case falls into one of three well-defined, narrow circumstances: the recipient spouse has a permanent disability, extraordinary circumstances that the recipient spouse from being self-sufficient, or the Rule of 65The Rule of 65 from the Arizona Spousal Maintenance Guidelines, that, when the criteria is met, the Court may order a duration different than the one suggested by the Guidelines—the only duration affected is the one for marriage of 16 years or more, and the range for those…Read more about Rule of 65 applies.
Rule of 65
So that’s what the Rule of 65 is—an exception to the Guidelines’ rigid rule that a Court must order the duration range required by the Rule, which if the Rule applies, that range is a spousal maintenance award ranging anywhere from 12 to 96 months, i.e., 1 to 8 years. So, if the Rule applies, it means that the Court could order that a spouse otherwise entitled to spousal maintenance shall receive it for less than a year, or, more plausibly, that they receive it for more than eight years.
What is the purpose of this rule?
It appears to be designed to help an older recipient spouse, who has significantly reduced their career opportunities to the point they will be unlikely support themselves and retire on time, to be self-sufficient up to and perhaps beyond retirement age. This rule allows Courts, on a case-by-case BasisA tax term describing the price a taxpayer paid to acquire a property. When a property or asset is sold, basis is deducted from the selling price to determine whether there is a taxable gain or loss. For items awarded in a divorce, those items are not taxed as part of the divorce…Read more about Basis, to determine whether, in those circumstances, spousal maintenance should last beyond eight years.
The Rule of 65 Requirements
Although we mentioned math, the question of whether someone qualifies is actually simple and only involves simple addition. For the Rule of 65The Rule of 65 from the Arizona Spousal Maintenance Guidelines, that, when the criteria is met, the Court may order a duration different than the one suggested by the Guidelines—the only duration affected is the one for marriage of 16 years or more, and the range for those…Read more about Rule of 65 to apply, all three of the following requirements need to be met:
- The PartyAn individual, entity, or the state that either brings the lawsuit or is required to respond to the lawsuit. See ARFLP Rule 3(f).Read more about Party seeking maintenance is at least 42 years old.
- The marriage lasted at least 16 years.
- Age of the spouse seeking maintenance + length of marriage is equal to or greater than 65.
Examples
- Sam and Jamie have been married for 24 years. Sam, the spouse seeking maintenance is 41. The Rule of 65 does not apply because the spouse seeking maintenance is not 42 years old.
- What if Sam is 41 at the time the Petition for DissolutionA document that starts a case to end a marriage, i.e., the paperwork that starts the divorce.Read more about Petition for Dissolution was served, but 42 by the time of the divorce TrialA court hearing in which evidence and testimony are taken, and the Court makes a final determination of the issues raised in a petition. Trials and evidentiary hearings are somewhat synonymous, but the difference is one of scope: Evidentiary hearings are more limited in scope…Read more about Trial? The Rule of 65 still does not apply. It’s Sam’s age on the date the PetitionThis is a court document that someone files to start a case.Read more about Petition is filed that matters.
- Alex and Blake are both 55. They have been married for 15 years. The Rule of 65 does not apply because they have not been married long enough.
- What if they were married for 15 years at the time Petition for Dissolution was served, but their 16th anniversary occurred between the Date of ServiceThis is the date a Petition is actually served on the Responding party. The date of service is significant in three respects legally: (1) for all petitions, it is the date from which the time for the Responding Party to file an Answer begins to run. (2) For divorce, legal…Read more about Date of Service and the date of trial? Once again, it is the date of service that matters. The Rule of 65 has not been met.
- Chris and Kelly are both 52. They have been married for 20 years. The Rule of 65 applies. It applies because (1) the spouse seeking maintenance is older than 42, (2) the parties were married for longer than 20 years, and (3) the sum of those two numbers is greater than 65 years.
The Rule of 65 in Practice
This rule is brand new. So, we do not know how it will play out in the Court system yet. Its existence is somewhat surprising, because when judges were free to set the spousal maintenance, they rarely ordered spousal maintenance for a period longer than one-third the length of the marriage, and they also rarely ordered spousal maintenance past retirement age. But we are already seeing parties and attorneys asking for its application to obtain very long-term spousal maintenance awards. Time will tell how judges will handle lengthy spousal maintenance requests.
Related Pages and Posts:
Spousal Maintenance Attorneys and Spousal Maintenance in AZ (state48law.com)
