Guide · updated 2026-08-03
Which states actually publish an alimony formula
A short answer to the question every alimony calculator skips. Two states compute a guideline amount by statute, two more cap it without publishing a formula, and the rest leave the number entirely to the court.
The formula states, and what their formulas do
Illinois computes guideline maintenance as a third of the payor's net annual income less a quarter of the payee's, subject to a limit: the amount, added to the payee's own net income, may not leave the payee with more than forty per cent of the parties' combined net income. The guideline applies only where combined gross annual income is under five hundred thousand dollars and the payor owes no support from a prior relationship. New York's post-divorce maintenance guideline works on gross income and has two versions. Where the payor is also the non-custodial parent paying child support to the payee, it is twenty per cent of the payor's income less twenty-five per cent of the payee's. Otherwise it is thirty per cent less twenty. Both are then compared against forty per cent of combined income less the payee's income, and the lower figure governs. Both are presumptive rather than binding. Both are also genuinely computable, which is what separates them from the rest of the country.
The cap states publish a ceiling, not a formula
Texas sets no formula but caps the amount hard: a court may not order maintenance requiring monthly payment of more than the lesser of five thousand dollars or twenty per cent of the obligor's average monthly gross income. The statute even defines gross income for the purpose, including severance, pensions, trust income and capital gains, and excluding VA service-connected disability compensation, social security and workers' compensation. Florida caps durational alimony at the obligee's reasonable need, or thirty-five per cent of the difference between the parties' net incomes, whichever is less. Only the second half is computable; reasonable need is a finding of fact. A ceiling is a real number and it is law. It is not a prediction of an award, and awards at the ceiling are uncommon.
Everywhere else, the factors are the law
California's Family Code section 4320 is the archetype: fourteen enumerated circumstances the court shall consider, from earning capacity and the standard of living established during the marriage to documented evidence of domestic violence and the balance of hardships. It sets no formula and no cap. A court that ignores a listed factor can be reversed for it, so the list is not decoration. But weighing factors is a judicial act, and no amount of care converts it into arithmetic. That is why an alimony calculator that produces a figure for California — or for the great majority of states — has necessarily applied a guideline California did not adopt. Frequently that is the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers' proposal, or one county's temporary-support rule generalised to the whole country.
What you can know without a lawyer
More than the absence of a formula suggests. Duration is published far more often than amount: Illinois multiplies the marriage length by a statutory factor, Florida caps the term as a share of the marriage and bars durational alimony below three years, Texas sets flat year ceilings by band, and California states a goal of half the marriage length for shorter marriages while expressly declining to limit the court. Eligibility is published too, and in Texas it is restrictive enough to matter more than any amount: below ten years of marriage, maintenance is available only where the other spouse was convicted of or received deferred adjudication for an offence constituting family violence within a defined window. And the factors themselves are worth reading before a first consultation, because they are the questions a lawyer will ask.
Official sources for this guide
Now do the math →
⚖️ Alimony & Spousal Support by State
Annual update alerts — new IRS and state figures the week they drop
One email when the numbers change. Double opt-in, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.