What will a divorce court consider when dealing with spousal maintenance of a foreign spouse?
Whether the sponsor spouse will ultimately have to pay spousal maintenance as the result of a divorce hinges on a number of factors. Certainly, if the sponsor spouse signed an Affidavit of Support, he has a contractual obligation to support his or her spouse to a certain point. However, the court may also consider the immigrant spouse’s own income, assets and any other sources of support to reduce the sponsor spouse’s support obligation. In other words, the sponsor spouse is not automatically required to support the immigrant spouse at the entire amount per the Federal Poverty Guidelines, but may be required to make up any shortage needed to comply with the guidelines once the immigrant spouse’s assets are accounted for. In addition, the Court will look at the factors provided for in Minnesota Statute Section 518.552, to determine the amount and duration of the maintenance which are: 1. The financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance, including marital property apportioned to
