Opinion
March 14, 1997.
Judgment unanimously modified on the law and as modified affirmed without costs in accordance with the following
Present — Green, J.P., Pine, Doerr, Boehm and Fallon, JJ.
"In determining questions of maintenance, the authority of this Court is as broad as that of the trial court" ( Marino v Marino, 229 AD2d 971, 972, citing Baumgart v Baumgart, 199 AD2d 1049, 1049-1050). In view of the standard of living established during the marriage, the great disparity in the parties' incomes and earning capacities and the need of defendant for a reasonable period of time to establish her career ( see, Domestic Relations Law § 236 [B] [6] [a]), we conclude that the maintenance awarded by Supreme Court is inadequate in both amount and duration. We therefore modify the judgment by increasing the maintenance award to $2,500 per month for a period of four years ( see, Lampard v Lampard, 219 AD2d 835; White v White, 204 AD2d 825, 828, lv dismissed 84 NY2d 977).
We further conclude that defendant's student loans constitute a marital debt and that the court erred in failing to allocate that debt in the same 50/50 proportion as it distributed the marital property ( see, Savage v Savage, 155 AD2d 336, 337; 48A NY Jur 2d, Domestic Relations, § 2513, at 270). We therefore further modify the judgment by directing plaintiff to pay one half of the balance of defendant's student loans. (Appeal from Judgment of Supreme Court, Monroe County, Bergin, J. — Maintenance.)