Florida Alimony & Spousal Support
Only a handful of states publish a formula for spousal support. Some cap the amount without publishing a formula, and most publish a factor checklist and no number at all. Pick your state to see which of the three it is, run whatever math it does publish, and read the factors a court actually weighs.
Your data never leaves your device Learn more
Estimate only — not legal advice. This is the published math for Florida spousal support, shown as a range. Your actual outcome depends on facts, evidence, and decisions this page cannot see.
Florida: Statutory factors — no formula
Statutory ceiling — the most Florida allows
$2,188
per month
This is a ceiling, not an estimate. Florida publishes no formula for the amount — the statute caps it and the court sets it on the factors below. Orders are routinely lower, and many spouses are not eligible for any award at all.
- Florida publishes no formula for the amount, but its 2023 rewrite does cap durational alimony: the amount is the obligee's reasonable need, OR an amount not to exceed 35 percent of the difference between the parties' net incomes, whichever is LESS. The figure above is only the second half of that test — reasonable need is a finding of fact this page cannot make, and where need is lower it governs instead. So treat this as a ceiling on a ceiling. Note also that the cap is written for DURATIONAL alimony; bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative and permanent alimony each have their own rules, and permanent alimony was abolished prospectively by the same act.
How long it may run
up to 7.2 years
Moderate-term marriage (10 to 20 years): durational alimony may not exceed 60% of the length of the marriage
Two hard edges most summaries omit. Durational alimony may not be awarded at all following a marriage lasting less than 3 years — the answer there is zero, not a small number. And the length of an award may not be modified except under exceptional circumstances, so unlike the amount it is close to fixed once ordered. The statute defines the classes precisely: short-term is under 10 years, moderate-term is 10 to 20, long-term is 20 or longer.
Fla. Stat. §61.08(8)
Court-ready worksheet
Every step, the statute behind each figure, and the source each number was transcribed from — on one page you can print and take to a consultation.
What a Florida court actually weighs
Transcribed from Fla. Stat. §61.08. These are the statutory factors, in the statute’s own order.
- 01The duration of the marriage
- 02The standard of living established during the marriage, and the anticipated needs and necessities of life for each party after the entry of the final judgment
- 03The age, and the physical, mental, and emotional condition of each party, including whether either party is physically or mentally disabled and the resulting impact on the obligee's ability to be self-supporting or the obligor's ability to pay
- 04The resources and income of each party, including the income generated by both nonmarital and marital assets
- 05The earning capacities, educational levels, vocational skills, and employability of the parties and, when applicable, the time necessary for either party to acquire sufficient education or training to enable such party to become self-supporting
- 06The contribution of each party to the marriage, including services rendered in homemaking, child care, education, and career building of the other party
- 07The responsibilities each party will have with regard to any minor children the parties have in common
- 08Any other factor necessary for equity and justice between the parties
Spousal support and child support are set separately and interact — in New York the child-support arrangement chooses which maintenance formula applies. Run your state’s child support guideline alongside this, and build the parenting schedule that feeds it with the custody planner.
Verified 2026-08-03 against 2025 Florida Statutes §61.08 (alimony), as rewritten by ch. 2023-315 — marriage-length definitions, durational alimony length and amount limits, and the statutory factors (effective 2023-07-01)
Source of record
- USA.gov — Divorce and separation ↗Federal
- 2025 Florida Statutes §61.08 (alimony), as rewritten by ch. 2023-315 — marriage-length definitions, durational alimony length and amount limits, and the statutory factors ↗State legislature
Run it against the official tool: Florida Courts — the circuit court where the case is filed applies §61.08 ↗
Courts retain discretion — guideline results can be adjusted or deviated from. This is the published guideline math, not a prediction of your order.
🎓 Understand this tool
What it is
A state-by-state answer to a question most alimony calculators skip: does your state publish a formula for spousal support at all? A few do. Some publish no formula but cap the amount by statute. Most publish a list of factors and no number whatsoever, and this tool says so rather than borrowing a guideline from somewhere else.
How it works
Each state page is driven by a rule pack transcribed from that state’s own statute, and the pack records which of three kinds the state is. A formula state — Illinois and New York among the few — computes a guideline amount from both incomes, usually a share of the payor’s income less a share of the payee’s, then limits the result so the payee does not end up above a set share of the parties’ combined income. New York applies its formula only to the payor’s income up to a cap the Unified Court System republishes every two years, and switches between two formulas depending on whether the payor is also the non-custodial parent paying child support. A cap state publishes no formula but does set a ceiling: Texas at the lesser of $5,000 a month or twenty per cent of the obligor’s average monthly gross income, Florida at thirty-five per cent of the difference between the parties’ net incomes or the obligee’s reasonable need, whichever is less. A factors state publishes neither, and the page shows the statutory checklist instead.
Getting the most from it
- Start with the badge at the top of your state’s page. It tells you which of the three kinds you are in before any figure appears.
- Enter annual incomes on the basis the page names — gross or net differs by state, and using the wrong one produces a confident answer to the wrong question.
- Enter the length of the marriage. Every state that publishes anything about duration keys it to this.
- Read the factors. In most states they are the entire answer, and they are what a lawyer will ask you about first.
Reading your result
A guideline figure is presumptive, not an order — a court can depart from it and explains why when it does. A ceiling is something else again: it is the most the statute permits, so an award at the ceiling is the exception rather than the expectation, and many spouses are not eligible for any award at all. Where the page shows no number, that is the finding, not a gap in the data.
What it can't tell you
This does not predict what a court will order, does not decide whether you are eligible, and does not account for property division, tax treatment, or the conduct-based provisions several states attach to spousal support. It cannot weigh factors — that is the judicial act itself. Temporary support during a case often runs on entirely different local rules than the post-divorce figures shown here. A family lawyer licensed in your state is the person who answers your question.
Frequently asked questions
Because most states publish no formula for the amount of spousal support — the statute lists factors and the court decides. Where that is true, the honest output is the factor list and whatever ceiling or duration limit the statute does set. A site that shows you a dollar figure for one of those states has applied a guideline the state never adopted.
Related calculators
Custody Planner
Build a parenting schedule from the standard rotations courts see most — 2-2-3, 2-2-5-5, 3-4-4-3, week-on-week-off, or every other weekend — then count the overnights exactly. The percentage carries straight into your state’s child support calculator, and the calendar exports and prints.
Child Support
Every state sets child support with a published guideline formula — income shares, percentage of income, or the Melson formula. Pick your state to run its own math step by step, see which figures the statute actually uses, and open the official worksheet it comes from.
Change alerts — when a state revises the guideline or deadline behind this page
One email when the numbers change. Double opt-in, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.