In a California divorce, alimony — which the state calls spousal support — is money one spouse pays the other during the case and often after it ends. A judge sets the amount by looking at both spouses’ incomes, the standard of living during the marriage, and the supported spouse’s realistic path to self-support. How long it lasts depends mostly on how long you were married: roughly half the length of the marriage for marriages under ten years, and open-ended for marriages of ten years or more.
Temporary Support and Long-Term Support Are Two Different Things
California splits spousal support into two phases, and they’re calculated differently.
Temporary support is ordered while the divorce is still pending. It keeps the lower-earning spouse afloat during the months or years before a final judgment, and it stays in place until the divorce is finalized or the court changes the order.
Long-term support is part of the final judgment. It addresses the supported spouse’s needs going forward, and it is based on an individualized review of both parties’ circumstances rather than a plug-in formula. Some couples agree to a lump-sum payment instead of monthly checks, which gives the recipient immediate cash and the payer a clean break.
How Temporary Support Is Calculated
Most California courts set temporary support using a guideline formula. The common version takes 40 percent of the higher earner’s net monthly income and subtracts 50 percent of the lower earner’s net monthly income.1California Courts. Temporary Spousal Support A positive result is the starting point for the monthly payment. Judges can adjust it based on the specifics of the case.
Courts and attorneys use Judicial Council-certified software to run the numbers, and self-represented parties can access the same tools.2Judicial Branch of California. Guideline Support Calculators The formula is only for temporary support. Long-term support requires a different analysis.
What the Judge Weighs for Long-Term Support
For a final support order, California law directs the court to consider a specific list of factors. The judge looks at each spouse’s earning capacity, including whether the supported spouse has marketable skills, how long any additional training would take, and whether years out of the workforce for child-rearing damaged their career prospects.3California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 4320 Contributions to the other spouse’s education or career count as well. Putting a partner through medical school while holding a lower-paying job is the classic example.
The paying spouse’s ability to cover support matters equally. The court examines earnings, assets, and post-separation standard of living. Both spouses’ needs are measured against the lifestyle they maintained during the marriage, not an abstract standard.3California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 4320 Length of the marriage, age and health of both spouses, debts, separate property, and the overall balance of hardship all enter the equation.
Domestic violence carries particular weight. A documented history of abuse between the spouses, or against a child, can reduce or eliminate support for the abusive spouse, and criminal convictions for domestic violence trigger their own statutory consequences.3California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 4320
How Long Alimony Lasts
Duration is the question that worries both sides most. The answer tracks the length of the marriage.
Marriages Under Ten Years
For shorter marriages, the general expectation is that support lasts for roughly half the length of the marriage.4California Courts. Long-Term Spousal Support A six-year marriage might produce about three years of payments. This is a starting point, not a ceiling. A judge has discretion to order more or less, and the court can also find that a marriage under ten years qualifies as “long duration” if the circumstances warrant it.5California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 4336
Marriages of Ten Years or More
California presumes that a marriage lasting ten or more years, measured from the wedding date to the date of separation, is a marriage of long duration.5California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 4336 The practical effect is that the court keeps jurisdiction over support indefinitely unless both parties agree otherwise in writing.
Indefinite jurisdiction does not mean indefinite payments. It means the case stays open so either spouse can ask for changes later if circumstances shift.
Richmond Orders
Some judges issue what family law practitioners call a Richmond order, which sets a specific future date when support will decrease or end. After that date, the burden shifts to the supported spouse to prove the reduction shouldn’t happen. A supported spouse can ask the court to extend past the step-down date, but they must show that the circumstances expected when the order was first entered haven’t materialized.
The Expectation of Self-Sufficiency
California does not treat spousal support as a permanent entitlement. The law says the supported spouse should work toward becoming financially independent within a reasonable timeframe.3California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 4320
Gavron Warnings
When ordering support, a judge can formally advise the recipient that they are expected to make reasonable efforts to support themselves.6California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 4330 Family law attorneys call this a Gavron warning. It doesn’t automatically cut off support, but it gives the paying spouse solid legal ground to request a reduction later if the recipient hasn’t taken reasonable steps toward employment, training, or education. Courts that never issued the warning tend to be more reluctant to reduce support, because the recipient may have relied on the expectation that payments would continue.
Vocational Evaluations
Either party can ask the court to order a vocational evaluation. A qualified counselor examines the supported spouse’s age, health, education, work history, and the local job market to determine what employment they could realistically obtain. Judges increasingly rely on formal vocational testimony before imputing income to a spouse who isn’t working. The court can also order the paying spouse to cover the evaluation costs and any recommended training.7California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 4331
When Alimony Ends
Some events terminate support automatically. Others require going back to court.
Remarriage or Death
Support ends immediately if the recipient remarries or if either spouse dies, unless a written agreement says otherwise.8California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 4337 No hearing is needed. The payer simply stops.
Cohabitation With a New Partner
If the supported spouse moves in with a new romantic partner, California law presumes their need for support has decreased. The presumption is rebuttable, so the recipient can argue the new living arrangement doesn’t actually reduce their financial need, but the burden is on them. The paying spouse must file a motion to modify, and the court evaluates whether the cohabitation provides enough financial benefit to justify reducing or ending support. Holding yourself out as married to the new partner is not required; living together is enough to trigger the presumption.9California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 4323
Reaching the End of the Support Period
For marriages under ten years where the court set a specific end date, support terminates on that date unless the supported spouse files a motion to extend before it expires. Missing that deadline can permanently forfeit the right to receive further support. For marriages of long duration where the court retained indefinite jurisdiction, there is no automatic end date, but either party can request termination based on changed circumstances at any time.5California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 4336
Modifying a Support Order
A job loss, a raise, a health crisis, or retirement can justify changing a support order. California allows modification when there has been a material change in circumstances, unless the original agreement specifically prohibits it.10California Legislative Information. California Code FAM 3651
If both spouses agree, you can draft a stipulated change and submit it for a judge’s signature.11California Courts. Prepare an Agreement to Change Long-Term Support A support calculator cannot be used for long-term modifications; the new amount must be based on the same individualized factors the court uses for the original order. If you can’t agree, the spouse seeking the change files a Request for Order and asks the judge to decide. Either side bears the burden of proving the change in circumstances.
Retirement
Retirement is one of the most common triggers for modification. When the paying spouse reaches standard retirement age, courts generally view the decision to stop working as made in good faith. The judge then examines the retiree’s full financial picture — retirement account distributions, pension income, Social Security, and investment income — to determine what they can still afford to pay. A retirement motivated primarily by a desire to stop paying support, rather than legitimate health or age reasons, can be treated as bad faith, and the court may impute income at the pre-retirement level.
Tax Treatment in 2026
How alimony is taxed depends entirely on when your divorce or separation agreement was finalized.
Agreements Finalized Before 2019
If your divorce was finalized before January 1, 2019, the old federal rules still apply: the payer deducts spousal support payments from taxable income, and the recipient reports those payments as income.12Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 452, Alimony and Separate Maintenance California follows the same treatment for these older agreements.13State of California Franchise Tax Board. Alimony
Agreements Finalized 2019 Through 2025
The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated the alimony deduction for agreements executed after December 31, 2018. Under federal law, the payer cannot deduct the payments, and the recipient does not report them as income.12Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 452, Alimony and Separate Maintenance California did not conform until 2026. For agreements finalized between 2019 and 2025, California still treats spousal support as deductible for the payer and taxable for the recipient on the state return. That mismatch requires a Schedule CA adjustment.
Agreements Finalized January 1, 2026 or Later
California now conforms to federal law for agreements executed on or after January 1, 2026. Spousal support is not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient, for both federal and state purposes.13State of California Franchise Tax Board. Alimony No Schedule CA adjustment is needed. The same rule applies to pre-2026 agreements modified after December 31, 2025, if the modification expressly adopts the new treatment.12Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 452, Alimony and Separate Maintenance
If Your Ex Stops Paying
A support order is only as useful as your ability to collect on it.
Wage Garnishment
The most common enforcement method is an earnings assignment. The court directs the payer’s employer to deduct support from each paycheck and send it to the recipient, and the employer must begin withholding within 10 days of receiving the order.14California Courts. How to Collect Spousal Support An employer can withhold up to 50 percent of the payer’s disposable earnings, with a court order permitting up to the federal ceiling of 65 percent.15Judicial Council of California. FL-435 Earnings Assignment Order for Spousal or Partner Support If both child support and spousal support are owed, child support is deducted first.
Couples with a history of timely payments can agree to stay the earnings assignment, so the employer isn’t notified unless payments stop. If they do stop, the recipient can ask the court to lift the stay.
Interest and Contempt
Unpaid spousal support accrues interest at 10 percent per year.14California Courts. How to Collect Spousal Support That rate compounds quickly. For persistent nonpayment, the recipient can file a contempt motion, and findings of contempt can carry community service, jail time, or both, with penalties escalating for repeat findings.16California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 1218 Courts can also order the nonpaying spouse to cover the other side’s attorney fees for bringing the contempt action.