Spousal maintenance—or alimony—laws in Missouri from the 1970s are still in effect.
Republican Senator Mike Cierpiot said these laws are vague and Missouri needs to join other states that have updated alimony laws at a senate committee hearing Monday afternoon. The proposed bill defines marriage lengths, and required spousal maintenance for short-term, moderate-term, and long-term marriages.
John C. Snyder II is an attorney in Kansas City and says it’s hard to determine the outcome of spousal maintenance cases under current law.
“Missouri families are forced repeatedly into this very adversarial, expensive and unnecessary litigation,” says Snyder.
One opponent of the bill says family courts already don’t look out for divorced women, and this bill would hurt them.