Spousal maintenance simply stated is an award of money formerly known as alimony that was required for a party to maintain the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage. And that can be an amount that can either be temporarily awarded or stated as permanent spousal maintenance. That is also subject to modification in the event of substantial change in circumstances.

Again, in some cases, party’s contract with each other, they’re what’s knowns as a care ____ waiver to limit the circumstances under which spousal maintenance can be changed at all. Absent that kind of contractual agreement, things like retirement can be a basis for modifying a spousal maintenance. In fact, that appears to me to be the new frontier as the baby boomers age and head into retirement age there’s a whole new body of cases seeking resolution by virtue of retirement. Is the retirement bona fide? Is it a reasonable retirement or is it done simply to avoid paying spousal maintenance? Those are the types of considerations that would go into play when modifying spousal maintenance.