Key legal question
Whether the post-divorce maintenance period was set too short
Extracted holding
The maintenance period until 30 June 2004 was not shown to violate federal law; the wife had had sufficient time to adapt and pursue self-support.
Extracted reasoning
The court held that roughly eight years from separation to the end of maintenance was enough to clarify social-insurance matters and to prepare for resuming employment. Delays in the dispute with the insurer were not attributable to the husband, and the wife was expected in good faith to prepare for using her 50% earning capacity once divorce became likely.