Estimate Spousal Support Under Your State's Real Rules

In most states, alimony is not calculated at all in the mathematical sense: a judge weighs a statutory list of factors, such as the length of the marriage, each spouse's income and earning capacity, age and health, the marital standard of living, and contributions to the other spouse's career, then sets an amount that is equitable. Only a minority of states have a real formula. Illinois computes maintenance as 33 1/3 percent of the payor's net income minus 25 percent of the recipient's, New York runs a two-step percentage formula, New Hampshire uses 23 percent of the gross income difference, Massachusetts sets a 30 to 35 percent guideline range, Florida caps durational alimony at 35 percent of the net income difference, and Texas caps maintenance at the lesser of $5,000 or 20 percent of gross monthly income. Everywhere else, any "alimony formula" you see online is an invention, not the law.

Based on the statutes we verified in August 2026: Illinois (750 ILCS 5/504(b-1)) and New York (DRL 236-B(6)) have true guideline formulas courts start from; New Hampshire (RSA 458:19-a) sets alimony at the lesser of need or 23 percent of the gross income difference; Massachusetts (M.G.L. c. 208 s. 53) uses a 30 to 35 percent guideline range; Florida (Fla. Stat. 61.08) and Texas (Tex. Fam. Code 8.055) impose statutory ceilings rather than awards; and Colorado (C.R.S. 14-10-114) publishes an expressly advisory guideline. Arizona's Supreme Court adopted official guidelines with a state-run calculator in 2023. The remaining states decide alimony from statutory factors, case by case.

Duration usually tracks the length of the marriage. Verified examples: Illinois multiplies the marriage length by a statutory factor that climbs from .20 (under 5 years) to .80 (19 years), with 20-plus-year marriages eligible for indefinite maintenance. Massachusetts caps general term alimony at 50 to 80 percent of the months of marriage depending on its length, going indefinite past 20 years. Florida caps durational alimony at 50, 60, or 75 percent of the marriage length. New Hampshire and Maine cap it at half the marriage length, Delaware at 50 percent for marriages under 20 years, New Jersey and Utah at the length of the marriage itself, and Kansas at 121 months per award. Texas allows at most 5, 7, or 10 years depending on marriage length. In pure factor states the judge sets duration case by case.

Not anymore, for modern agreements. Under federal law as explained in IRS Topic 452, for any divorce or separation agreement executed after December 31, 2018, the payer cannot deduct alimony and the recipient does not report it as income. Agreements executed before 2019 keep the old deductible-and-taxable treatment unless they are later modified with language expressly adopting the repeal. This change is also why several states adjusted their formulas: New Hampshire's 23 percent figure and Colorado's 80 or 75 percent reduction both exist because the payer no longer gets a deduction.

They are the same thing under different names. "Alimony" is the traditional term and still the statutory word in states like Florida, Georgia, and Massachusetts. Many states renamed it: spousal support (Ohio, California, Virginia), spousal maintenance (Arizona, Minnesota, Washington, Texas calls it simply "maintenance"), or maintenance (Illinois, New York, Kentucky, Missouri). Louisiana calls it "final periodic support." The label does not change the substance: a court-ordered payment from one ex-spouse to the other, separate from child support and from property division.

It depends heavily on the state, and this is one of the sharpest differences between them. In Georgia, a spouse whose adultery or desertion caused the separation is barred from alimony entirely (O.C.G.A. 19-6-1(b)). In South Carolina, adultery before a signed settlement or permanent order is an absolute bar. In North Carolina, illicit sexual behavior by the dependent spouse bars alimony, while the same conduct by the supporting spouse makes an award mandatory. Virginia generally bars support to a spouse whose adultery grounds the divorce, unless denial would be a manifest injustice. At the other end, Washington orders maintenance "without regard to misconduct," and no-fault states like California do not weigh ordinary infidelity at all (though documented domestic violence does matter there).

Short marriages rarely produce meaningful alimony. Several states say so expressly: Florida bars durational alimony for marriages under 3 years, Maine presumes no general support under 10 years, Minnesota presumes no maintenance under 5 years, and Texas normally requires a 10-year marriage before ordinary maintenance is even available. In formula states the math itself shrinks with the years: Illinois gives a marriage under 5 years a duration multiplier of just .20, so a 4-year marriage supports at most about 10 months of guideline maintenance. Factor states reach similar results through the length-of-marriage factor. Short-marriage cases more often end with transitional help, a modest property adjustment, or nothing.

Usually yes, unless the parties agreed it is non-modifiable. Periodic alimony can typically be modified on a substantial change in circumstances, such as involuntary job loss, disability, or retirement, and it commonly terminates automatically on the recipient's remarriage and often on cohabitation with a new partner. Lump-sum and reimbursement alimony are generally fixed once ordered. The critical procedural rule mirrors child support: courts change payments from the date a modification motion is filed, not from the date life changed, so a paying spouse who loses a job should file promptly rather than quietly falling behind.

Generally yes, and this is a major difference from child support, which belongs to the child and cannot be bargained away. Spouses can waive or fix spousal support in a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, or resolve it in a divorce settlement, and courts usually honor those deals if they were entered voluntarily with fair disclosure. States police the edges: many will refuse to enforce a waiver that leaves a spouse destitute or on public assistance, and some require independent counsel or specific formalities for premarital waivers. If you are negotiating one, a properly drafted agreement with full financial disclosure is what makes the waiver stick.

Each statute defines its own income base, and the differences move real money. Illinois runs on net income as defined by its support statutes. New York uses gross income less FICA and New York City or Yonkers taxes, applied to the first $241,000 of the payor's income under the cap effective March 1, 2026. Massachusetts and New Hampshire use gross income, with Massachusetts excluding income already counted for child support. Florida uses net income. Texas uses gross income but excludes Social Security, SSI, VA service-connected disability compensation, and workers' compensation. Courts in every state can also impute income to a spouse who is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed.

No. It is an educational tool. Where your state has a statutory formula we compute that formula with the math displayed, but a court applies the statute to verified financial disclosures, can deviate with findings, and controls duration. Where your state decides alimony from factors, no calculator can honestly predict the number, which is why we show you the statutory factor list instead. Use the output to plan and negotiate, then have the terms drafted into a proper spousal support agreement or judgment so they are enforceable.