NEW MEXICO Part 31

How is alimony determined?

In New Mexico, there is no set formula for the determination of alimony. A number of factors are to be determined by the court, which include:

(1) the age and health of and the means of support for the respective spouses;

(2) the current and future earnings and the earning capacity of the respective spouses;

(3) the good-faith efforts of the respective spouses to maintain employment or to become self-supporting;

(4) the reasonable needs of the respective spouses, including:

(a) the standard of living of the respective spouses during the term of the marriage;

(b) the maintenance of medical insurance for the respective spouses; and

(c) the appropriateness of life insurance, including its availability and cost, insuring the life of the person who is to pay support to secure the payments, with any life insurance proceeds paid on the death of the paying spouse to be in lieu of further support;

(5) the duration of the marriage;

(6) the amount of the property awarded or confirmed to the respective spouses;

(7) the type and nature of the respective spouses’ assets; provided that potential proceeds from the sale of property by either spouse shall not be considered by the court, unless required by exceptional circumstances and the need to be fair to the parties;

(8) the type and nature of the respective spouses’ liabilities;

(9) income produced by property owned by the respective spouses; and

(10) agreements entered into by the spouses in contemplation of the dissolution of marriage or legal separation.