Amount and duration ballparks from the formulas courts actually reference
| Marriage length | Typical duration pattern |
|---|
Alimony (spousal support, maintenance) is the least predictable number in a divorce — some states compute it by formula, most weigh factors, and judges own the outcome either way. But the formula states' math has become everyone's anchor: roughly 30% of the payor's gross minus 20% of the payee's, capped so the recipient's total income stays under ~40% of the combined, running for a fraction of the marriage's length. This estimator runs that anchor and the duration benchmarks so negotiations start from the market rate, not from fear. Orientation only — this is precisely the number that needs a local attorney.
For agreements executed since 2019, alimony is paid from after-tax income and received tax-free — reversing decades of practice and shrinking the efficient deal size (the deduction used to subsidize generosity). Pre-2019 orders keep the old treatment unless modified with opt-in language. This is why older siblings' divorce numbers mislead: the tax frame changed underneath them.
| Event | Effect |
|---|---|
| Recipient remarries | Terminates almost everywhere, automatically |
| Recipient cohabits | Reduces/terminates in many states — heavily litigated, fact-specific |
| Payor's genuine income drop | Modifiable on filing (voluntary early retirement gets scrutiny) |
| Payor retires at normal age | The standard endpoint argument for long-term awards |
| Lump-sum buyout | Non-modifiable, done — price it against the stream with a discount for certainty; often the sanest deal on the table |
Never automatic: it requires a meaningful income gap plus factors (marriage length, earning capacity, contributions like career sacrifice for the household). Two-earner short marriages with comparable incomes usually produce none; the classic award case is long marriage + large sustained gap.
Post-2018 agreements: no federal deduction for the payor, no income to the recipient (a few states differ on state returns). Pre-2019 orders keep the old deductible/taxable treatment — which matters enormously when MODIFYING an old order; get tax advice before touching one.
No — courts impute income based on earning capacity for voluntary underemployment, and the maneuver damages credibility for every other issue. Genuine involuntary loss: file for modification immediately; the order runs at full rate until you do.
Buyouts trade a discount (typically 10-30% off the nominal stream) for certainty: no modification risk, no remarriage clawback, no monthly contact. Payors with liquidity and recipients with plans both tend to prefer it — price the stream, apply a discount rate, negotiate.
Same enforcement arsenal as child support: wage garnishment, contempt, license holds, judgments with interest. Document, file enforcement early, and never trade visitation or property informally against arrears.
In most no-fault states: not directly (marital misconduct is excluded); a minority still weigh fault, and dissipation of marital funds ON an affair is recoverable arithmetic everywhere. The financial ledger matters more than the moral one.
Yes — every figure computes locally in your browser and is never transmitted.
Anchor on the formula, negotiate the duration, price the buyout, and get the tax frame right before signing anything. Alimony rewards the spouse who treats it as a present-value problem instead of a verdict on the marriage.