• Alimony in Kansas is generally called maintenance.ring image by Jens Klingebiel from Fotolia.com
  
  Divorce can be a very difficult time, especially when income has to be redistributed between former spouses as alimony or marital support payments. Like all other states, Kansas has specific laws governing the payments of alimony to parties in a divorce. These laws govern how alimony is paid, how long it can last and how it can be changed.
  
  

Requirements

• Kansas requires that at least one spouse be a resident of the state for at least 60 days prior to filing a divorce petition. Kansas is a "no-fault" divorce state, meaning that no grounds for divorce must be stated other than that one party believes the marriage is irrevocably damaged. The divorce petition can be filed in the county courthouse where either spouse lives.
  
  

Maintenance

• In Kansas, alimony is generally referred to as maintenance, spousal maintenance or support. Maintenance can be ordered to be paid as a lump sum, annual sum or monthly sum as the court decides. The court may not order any maintenance payment to go on for longer than 121 months.
  
  

Factors

• If the parties cannot agree to their own maintenance payments, the court will come up with its own maintenance orders. The court will look at a number of factors, including the age of the spouses, the marital assets, potential earnings, length of the marriage and standard of living.
  
  

Modification

• If the divorce decree ordering maintenance allows for either party to modify maintenance payments, those modifications must be petitioned for before the 121-month time period ends. Upon modification, the court may extend maintenance payments for no more than 121 months.
  
  

Child Support

• Spousal maintenance is generally held separate from child support and custody. Kansas courts may order one or both parties to pay child support and education expenses for any minor children.