Also known as:marital standard of living · marital lifestyle · accustomed standard of living
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
in family law
A statutory factor for determining the amount and duration of spousal maintenance that reflects the lifestyle the spouses enjoyed while married. Courts use it to set support levels that allow the recipient to approximate the housing, travel, and consumption patterns established before separation.
Sources & Authorities· 2 primary sources
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Uniform Acts
Casebooks
How it applies
Common Examples
2
Maintenance Award After Long Marriage
Serena Soto stayed home to raise two children while Simon Stern drove long-haul routes and earned overtime plus hazard pay that funded a newer home, two vehicles, and annual family vacations. After the divorce court awarded Serena an older house needing fifteen thousand dollars in repairs plus twelve thousand dollars in credit-card debt, she petitioned for maintenance. The court examined the standard of living established during the marriage and awarded support sufficient to narrow the gap between her current resources and the comfortable suburban lifestyle the couple had shared.
Maintenance Request After Career Sacrifice
Sasha Stone left her paralegal job seven years earlier to care full time for a daughter with severe ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder. Steven Silva advanced to partner earning over four hundred thousand dollars annually. After filing for dissolution, Sasha sought maintenance because no reliable after-school program could handle the child's outbursts. The court weighed the standard of living established during the marriage against Sasha's current lack of updated skills and concluded that maintenance was appropriate to preserve a comparable household routine.
Age v. Age340 S.W.3d 88 (Ky. App. 2011)
Common questions
Frequently Asked
4
How does the standard of living factor interact with the spouse's ability to become self-supporting?+
The factor guides the amount and duration of maintenance so the recipient can maintain a lifestyle close to the one enjoyed during marriage while acquiring education or training. Courts balance this against the time needed for retraining and the payor's ability to meet both households' needs.
Supporting sources
Does the standard of living apply only when the marriage lasted many years?+
No. The factor is considered in any marriage of moderate or longer duration once the statutory thresholds for maintenance are met. A twelve-year marriage with comfortable suburban living justified transitional support even though the court viewed the length as moderate rather than permanent.
Can a marital agreement override consideration of the marital standard of living for child support?+
No. Agreements that exclude the primary income source used to maintain the family's lifestyle during marriage are unenforceable because they adversely affect the child's independent right to support measured against the actual standard enjoyed while the parents were together.
Supporting sources
How does the court determine the marital standard when one spouse never worked outside the home?+
The court looks at the income and assets generated during the marriage, including overtime, bonuses, and resulting purchases such as housing and vacations. Full-time homemaking and caregiving duties qualify the non-earning spouse to seek maintenance calibrated to that lifestyle.
Supporting sources
Family LawBeing married · Rights and responsibilities of spousesUBEFoundational