11.02.270 Spousal Maintenance

(a) In any divorce action, the Tribal Court may require either party to pay for the suitable maintenance of the adverse party where just and equitable based upon consideration of the following factors:

(1) the age and health of the parties;

(2) the present or future earning capacity of the parties, including a history of limited participation in the workforce;

(3) the need of one party to incur education or training expenses;

(4) the termination of a child support award before the termination of the maintenance award when the calculation of maintenance was based upon child support being awarded which resulted in a maintenance award lower than it would have been had child support not been awarded;

(5) the wasteful dissipation of marital property, including transfers or encumbrances made in contemplation of a matrimonial action without fair consideration;

(6) the existence and duration of a pre-marital joint household or a pre-divorce separate household;

(7) acts by one party against the other that have inhibited or continue to inhibit a party's earning capacity or ability to obtain meaningful employment. Such acts include but are not limited to acts of domestic violence as defined in the Violence Against Women Act;

(8) the availability and cost of medical insurance for the parties;

(9) the care of children or stepchildren, disabled adult children or stepchildren, elderly parents or in-laws provided during the marriage that inhibits a party's earning capacity;

(10) the tax consequences to each party;

(11) the standard of living of the parties established during the marriage;

(12) the reduced or lost earning capacity of the payee as a result of having forgone or delayed education, training, employment or career opportunities during the marriage;

(13) the equitable distribution of marital property and the income or imputed income on the assets so distributed;

(14) the contributions and services of the payee as a spouse, parent, wage earner and homemaker to the career or career potential or business of the other party; and

(15) any other factor which the court shall expressly find to be just and proper.