Strictly speaking, Indiana is not an alimony state. The term used in legal terms is “maintenance.” Understanding these will help you be a more informed citizen and help your lawyer ask for temporary orders and a final divorce in a way that best meets your needs and is just and equitable.
The first type of maintenance is that the court can award during the pendency of a divorce proceeding when the case is undeveloped for what is fair ultimately order; temporary maintenance for household expenses is very vast and may be modified where necessary before a divorce. Temporary maintenance may even include living expenses for a spouse or child. This ends when the divorce is final.
At the final divorce hearing there are two types of alimony a court may consider awarding if supported by the evidence. Thus the second is rehab maintenance. This is to allow a spouse to obtain training or higher education to be able to obtain a higher paying job after the divorce and may continue for up to three years. If this is your case, you have to demonstrate to the court why this is necessary, such as having been out of the work force for a number of years and new skills are needed.
The third type of maintenance is disability maintenance. This is what it sounds like. If a spouse and/or children are physically or mentally impaired, a trial court may order the other spouse to pay disability maintenance as long as the disability exists. These are complex cases. If this is or could be your situation, it is imperative you discuss this with your attorney early in the litigation because it is relatively rare in divorce final decrees for a court to order disability maintenance.
This blog post is written for general education purposes by attorneys at Dixon & Moseley, P.C. This is not a solicitation for specific legal services or advice. Dixon & Moseley, P.C. attorneys practice throughout the State of Indiana.