Colorado maintenance calculator: amount and term.
The statutory formula for either spouse: 40% of combined income minus the lower income, times 80% or 75%, and the guideline term from 31% to 50% of the marriage. Incomes above the $240,000 line are computed and flagged, not hidden. Enter two incomes and the length of the marriage; the page explains what the court does with the result.
- 01The calculator
- 02The formula
- 03The term
- 04Worked examples
- 05What the court does with it
- 06Methodology and updates
- →Questions
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Updated September 21, 2026Law current through March 1, 2026Reviewed by Aaron Herzberg, Colorado attorney
The formula
Colorado adopted a maintenance guideline in 2014 and rewrote its multipliers in 2019 when maintenance stopped being deductible. The formula is the same for every marriage of three years or more with combined income of $240,000 a year or less.
Each spouse’s gross monthly income from any source, minus child support or maintenance already paid under earlier orders. Potential income can be substituted for a spouse who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. C.R.S. § 14-10-114(8).
Add the two incomes, take 40%, and subtract the lower earner’s income. Zero or less means no guideline maintenance. C.R.S. § 14-10-114(3)(b)(I)(A).
80% when combined monthly income is $10,000 or less; 75% when it is more. The multiplier stands in for the deduction the payor lost in 2019. C.R.S. § 14-10-114(3)(b)(I)(B)–(C).
A percentage of the months of marriage: 31% at 36 months, rising to 50% at 150 months. Under three years, none; over twenty, the court’s discretion. C.R.S. § 14-10-114(3)(b)(II).
The formula produces a number in thirty seconds. Whether the court orders it, and for how long, is a hearing.
The term
The guideline term is where most of the money is. The percentage climbs from 31% at three years to 50% at twelve and a half, then holds.
| Length of marriage | Guideline percentage | Guideline term |
|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 31% | 11 months (11 months) |
| 5 years | 35% | 21 months (1 year 9 months) |
| 8 years | 41% | 39 months (3 years 3 months) |
| 10 years | 45% | 54 months (4 years 6 months) |
| 12 years | 49% | 71 months (5 years 11 months) |
| 15 years | 50% | 90 months (7 years 6 months) |
| 20 years | 50% | 120 months (10 years) |
| Over 20 years | Court’s discretion | A term of years or indefinite; not less than 120 months without findings |
Months are counted from the marriage to the filing of the petition. The duration calculator runs any length and shows the chart.
Worked examples
Computed by the engine on this page, current as of September 21, 2026.
40% of $18,000 is $7,200; less $4,000 leaves $3,200; times 75% (combined income over $10,000) is $2,400.00. Guideline term 5 years 11 months, 49% of 144 months.
40% of $10,000 is $4,000; less $3,000 leaves $1,000; times 80% (combined income $10,000 or less) is $800.00. Term 3 years 3 months.
40% of $10,000 is $4,000, which is not more than the lower income of $4,000. The formula produces nothing; a court could still award maintenance on the factors, but the guideline gives it no number.
Combined income of $288,000 a year is above the $240,000 line, so the guideline does not apply. Run on the actual incomes the formula gives $2,700.00; with combined income capped at $20,000 a month it gives $1,500.00. The court sets the amount on the factors.
What the court does with it
Threshold, then factors, then the guideline
The guideline is advisory. The court must find need first, then explain the number.
The court cannot order maintenance until it finds that the spouse asking for it lacks sufficient property, including the property awarded in the divorce, to provide for reasonable needs and is unable to support himself or herself through appropriate employment. C.R.S. § 14-10-114(3)(a). Only then does it consider the guideline amount and term, together with the factors: the incomes and the property each spouse takes, the lifestyle of the marriage, the distribution of property, the age and health of both, the length of the marriage, contributions at home, and the time needed to become self-supporting. C.R.S. § 14-10-114(3)(c).
The order has to say why. An award without findings on the threshold and the factors is reversible, which is one reason the appeals page spends so much time on maintenance.
Arguments for the recipient
- A long marriage and a lifestyle the recipient cannot replicate
- Years out of the workforce for the family
- Health or age that limits earning capacity
- A payor whose real income is higher than the returns show
- A property division that leaves the recipient illiquid
Arguments for the payor
- A recipient who can earn more than reported: vocational evidence
- Income the formula overstates: a one-time bonus, a dying business
- Substantial property awarded to the recipient
- A short marriage, or one that was short in substance
- Cohabitation, a new job, or a planned retirement, for a later modification
Questions about maintenance in Colorado
How is maintenance calculated in Colorado?
For marriages of at least three years with combined annual adjusted gross income of $240,000 or less, the guideline amount is 40% of the parties’ combined monthly adjusted gross income minus the lower earner’s monthly adjusted gross income, multiplied by 80% if combined monthly income is $10,000 or less and by 75% if it is more (C.R.S. 14-10-114(3)(b)(I)). If the result is zero or negative there is no guideline maintenance. The guideline is advisory: the court must first find that the requesting spouse lacks sufficient property and cannot be self-supporting, and then set an amount and term that are fair on the statutory factors.
How long does maintenance last?
The guideline term is a percentage of the length of the marriage: 31% at three years, rising one point for every six months to 50% at twelve and a half years, and staying at 50% through twenty years (C.R.S. 14-10-114(3)(b)(II)). A ten-year marriage suggests 54 months; fifteen years suggests 90. Under three years there is no guideline term. Over twenty years the court may set a term of years or make maintenance indefinite, and may not order less than 120 months without findings. The duration calculator on this site shows the whole chart.
Is alimony the same as maintenance?
Yes. Colorado’s statute uses maintenance for what other states call alimony or spousal support. The same formula, factors and court. If you searched for a Colorado alimony calculator, this is the calculation.
What if we earn more than $240,000 a year together?
By statute the guideline amount does not apply above $240,000 of combined annual adjusted gross income; the court sets maintenance on the factors in 14-10-114(3)(c), and may still consider the guideline term (C.R.S. 14-10-114(3.5)). Practitioners run the formula on the larger incomes anyway as the reference point, and this calculator does the same, flagging the result. The alternative it shows caps combined income at $20,000 a month. Above the line the case is about lifestyle, need, earning capacity and the property division.
Which incomes does the calculator use?
Monthly adjusted gross income: gross income from any source, as defined for child support, minus child support or maintenance the spouse already pays under earlier orders for other people (C.R.S. 14-10-114(8)). Maintenance in the current case is not deducted; the formula produces it. Child support the spouse receives is not income. If a spouse is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed the court may use potential income, which is where vocational evidence comes in.
Is maintenance taxable or deductible?
Not for orders entered after December 31, 2018: the payor pays with after-tax dollars and the recipient does not report it as income. That is why the formula multiplies by 80% or 75%. Instruments from 2018 or earlier, and some modifications of them that keep the old tax treatment, are still deductible and taxable, which matters when they are modified and on the child support worksheet.
Does the calculator include child support?
No. Child support is a separate calculation under C.R.S. 14-10-115, and maintenance is figured first because it changes both incomes on the child support worksheet, grossed up by 1.25 or 1.33. Use the combined divorce calculator to run both in the right order from one set of inputs.
Can the court order more or less than the guideline?
Yes, and it must explain why. The court can find no maintenance is warranted, award more or less than the guideline, set a shorter or longer term, order a step-down, award a lump sum or property instead, or make maintenance non-modifiable by agreement. Every award requires findings on the statutory factors; an award without them can be reversed on appeal.
Does the formula apply to temporary maintenance while the case is pending?
The same guideline amount is the starting point for temporary orders in cases within the guideline, though the guideline term does not apply to temporary maintenance (C.R.S. 14-10-114(4)). The months paid under a temporary order are then a factor in the final award, which is one reason the first number tends to stick.
How does the length of the marriage get counted?
In whole months from the date of the marriage to the date the petition for dissolution or legal separation was filed, not to the decree (C.R.S. 14-10-114(8)(b)). A long separation before filing still counts. A period of cohabitation before the wedding does not, though it can be argued as a factor.
Can maintenance be modified later?
Only on a showing of changed circumstances so substantial and continuing that the existing terms are unfair, and only if the decree does not make maintenance non-modifiable (C.R.S. 14-10-122). Maintenance ends automatically on the death of either party or the recipient’s remarriage or civil union unless the order says otherwise. The ending-or-reducing page explains the motions.
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The formula is advisory. The findings are the case.
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Talk to us about your case.
303-507-5529One call. A real person picks up, hears you out, and tells you how we would handle what you are facing and what to do first. No phone tree, no sales pitch, no obligation. Your first conversation is with our intake paralegal, who will get you to Aaron fast.
Rather write? Send a short note and during business hours we call you back within the hour.