Glossary
Durational alimony
Support ordered for a set period rather than indefinitely. Several states cap that period as a share of how long the marriage lasted.
Durational alimony runs for a fixed term. Florida's 2023 rewrite made it the centrepiece of its scheme, capping the term at 50 per cent of the length of a short-term marriage, 60 per cent of a moderate-term marriage and 75 per cent of a long-term one — and barring it entirely after a marriage of less than three years. Other states express duration differently. Illinois multiplies the marriage length by a factor that rises with each year of marriage, from 20 per cent under five years to 80 per cent at nineteen, and at twenty years lets the court choose between a term equal to the marriage and an indefinite one. New York publishes an advisory range rather than a fixed share. Texas sets flat year ceilings — five, seven or ten — keyed to bands of marriage length, with open-ended exceptions where the recipient is disabled or caring for a disabled child. The common thread is that duration is more often published than amount, so a state that gives you no number for how much may still give you a firm answer on how long.