IS there an alimony calculator in missouri?

Missouri does not have an alimony (spousal maintenance) calculator.  Instead, the need and amount of alimony is based on many different factors, the first of which include:

1. Is there a need for alimony?

2. Is there an ability to provide alimony?

If these (2) factors exist, then other factors become relevant to the determination of alimony.  These other factors include, but are not limited to, the length of the marriage, ability for the receiving spouse to earn a reasonable wage (even if they’ve been out of the workforce for some time), the age and health of both spouses, the age of the children, the ability to generate income from property received in the property division, etc. 

Alimony and Divorce Mediation

In the Missouri divorce and legal separation process you and your spouse will be required to provide your current income and expenses. This means you will gather and provide a list of all sources of income including, but not limited to:

1. Earned income (wages from a job or business)

2. Bonuses, stock options, cash-in-lieu of other compensation

3. Investment income such as dividends and interest

4. Social security income

5. Pension income

6. Retirement income such as distributions from a retirement account

7. Support received from a previous relationship

You will then make a list of all the current expenses. This means everything that you and your spouse currently pay on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. I mention annual expenses because we often forget about items such as HOA fees (homeowner’s association fees), personal property taxes, vehicle inspections & licensing, children’s summer camps, etc that are not paid on a monthly basis. You will need to break the non-monthly expenses down to a monthly amount.

Once you’ve gathered your income and expenses, you and your spouse will discuss your current monthly inflow of income and outflow of expenses as they are today. The court will require this information to be included on an “Income and Expense Statement” to be filed with the court - one for each of you - in order to finalize your divorce. While this is accurate for today, the current state of affairs isn’t an accurate reflection of the future.

alimony needs and future finances

In my divorce mediation process we evaluate each person’s ability to be financially independent after divorce.  This means that we actually go through and determine the impact of your financial and parenting plan agreements on each spouse’s future monthly budget.  We determine if both of you are in the black or if one person will be in the black (have a surplus) and the other will be in the red (have a deficit).  This helps you both know if your agreements are meeting your financial goals or if there’s a need for a different property division or some form of spousal support.

st. louis divorce mediator & cdfa

Not all mediators are created equal. As an experienced St. Louis divorce mediator and certified divorce financial analyst (CDFA) I take a more comprehensive approach for how my clients reach their financial agreements. I don’t want clients to get blindsided by something that could have been prevented.

If it’s important for you and your spouse to be financially secure after divorce and for you both to be fully aware of the impact your agreements will have on your financial future, then please give me a call (314) 272-0727 or schedule a FREE divorce mediation consultation.  I would love to talk with you and/or your spouse about our process and how we thoroughly evaluate agreements such as spousal support and child support in the divorce mediation process.