Divorce & Spousal Support

Most Maine divorces are filed on the ground of irreconcilable differences, which means neither spouse has to prove the other did something wrong. To file here, generally you need to have lived in Maine for six months, or have married here, or your spouse needs to live here. Once your spouse has been served, the court can't finalize the divorce for at least 60 days. In practice, most cases take longer than that, especially when there's property or children involved.

Maine divides marital property "equitably," which is not always the same as 50/50. The court looks at what each spouse contributed, including staying home with the kids, the value of the property each person is leaving with, and each spouse's financial situation going forward. Property one spouse owned before the marriage, or received as a gift or inheritance, is usually kept out of the split. Things get complicated when that property was mixed with marital money or grew in value during the marriage, and that's often where a lawyer earns their fee.

Spousal support, which most people still call alimony, isn't automatic. The court looks at things like the length of the marriage, each spouse's income and earning ability, their ages and health, and the standard of living during the marriage. Maine law sets some guideposts. For marriages under ten years, there's a presumption against long-term general support. For marriages between ten and twenty years, general support is presumed not to last longer than half the length of the marriage. Support can also be shorter-term, to help a spouse get back on their feet or retrain for work.

Whether you're the one who may receive support or the one who may pay it, we'll give you a realistic sense of what to expect before you agree to anything. And if an existing support order no longer fits because of a job loss, retirement, or a big change in income, we can ask the court to modify it.

When children are part of the divorce, parental rights and child support are decided in the same case. We cover those on our custody and support page, and we handle them together with the rest of your divorce.