Colorado Maintenance / Alimony Modification

Unless the divorce decree restricts a court's authority to review Colorado alimony ("maintenance"), under C.R.S. 14-10-122 the standard for modification of Colorado maintenance is whether there has been a substantial and continuing change in circumstances which renders the original amount unfair. A Colorado divorce court will look at all circumstances in determining this, but even if it now would have awarded a different amount, that is not sufficient to modify the decree - the original amount must now be unconscionable.

The parties, however, can agree at the time of dissolution that maintenance cannot be modified for any reason, or that it may be modified with a more relaxed standard. Finally, they may agree that maintenance shall be reviewed upon the occurrence of a specific event (e.g. one party's retirement).