NH Alimony Calculator: 23% Formula, Duration, and Deviations

An NH alimony calculator runs on a single statutory formula: 23 percent of the difference between the two spouses’ gross monthly incomes, capped at the recipient’s reasonable need. The result runs for up to half the length of the marriage. Both numbers are defaults set by RSA 458:19-a, and a judge can move off either one when the circumstances justify it.¹

Running the Numbers

Take each spouse’s gross monthly income, subtract the lower from the higher, and multiply by 0.23.

If one spouse earns $8,000 a month and the other earns $3,000, the difference is $5,000. Twenty-three percent of that is $1,150. That’s the preliminary monthly alimony figure.²

Then compare that figure to the recipient’s reasonable need as shown on their Financial Affidavit. The statute awards the lesser of the two. If the recipient’s documented monthly need is $900, the award is $900, not $1,150. The formula sets a ceiling; actual expenses can bring it down.²

What Counts as Gross Income

RSA 458:19 defines gross income broadly. It includes wages, salary, commissions, tips, bonuses, self-employment income, business profits, pensions, annuities, Social Security benefits, trust income, investment income, net rental income, unemployment benefits, disability benefits, veterans’ benefits, workers’ compensation, and lottery or gambling winnings.³

Some income is left out. Social Security benefits received on behalf of a minor child don’t count. Neither do capital gains from property received in the divorce settlement. Income from a new spouse is generally excluded. Overtime pay or income from a second job is excluded if the party already works full time and the extra work started after the couple separated or after a divorce petition was filed.³

Each spouse documents these figures on the state’s Financial Affidavit. The numbers on that form feed the calculation directly, so inconsistencies with pay stubs or tax returns create credibility problems.⁴

How Long Payments Last

The default cap on term alimony is 50 percent of the length of the marriage. A 10-year marriage produces a maximum alimony term of 5 years. A 20-year marriage caps at 10 years. The court can use a different start or end date for measuring the marriage length if justice requires it, and the parties can agree to a different duration.²

A separate note for anyone near the 10-year mark: a marriage lasting at least 10 years qualifies a divorced spouse to collect Social Security benefits on the ex-spouse’s record. That’s a federal program with its own rules, unrelated to the state alimony calculation, but it can shift the long-term financial picture.⁵

The Threshold Test the Court Applies First

Before any calculation matters, the requesting spouse has to clear a threshold. They must show they lack enough income or property to cover their own reasonable needs after the property division, or that they cannot become self-supporting at a standard of living that meets those needs through appropriate employment. Either path qualifies.

The paying spouse’s finances get tested too. The court must find that the payor can meet their own reasonable needs while covering the requested support. Both households are expected to adjust their standard of living when a single household splits in two. If the threshold isn’t met, the court can deny alimony no matter what the formula produces.¹

Reasons a Judge Will Move Off the Default

The 23 percent amount and the 50 percent duration are starting points. Under RSA 458:19-a(IV), either can be adjusted when justice requires it, and the party asking for the adjustment carries the burden of proof. The statute lists factors including:

Chronic or severe physical or mental illness, disability, or other unusual health circumstances affecting either spouse
The depth and length of one spouse’s financial dependency on the other
Vocational skills, occupation, employment benefits, and each party’s present and future ability to earn income
Voluntary unemployment or underemployment, in which case the court can impute income
Special needs of a minor or adult child
Assets already awarded in the property division under RSA 458:16-a
Marital conduct, including domestic abuse or fault as defined in the property division statute
Differences in what each spouse will receive under federal retirement and disability benefits
Dissipation of marital assets
Tax consequences for both parties, including how tax-related benefits are allocated

The court can weigh any other factor it finds relevant. Long marriages involving a stay-at-home spouse and significant health issues are the cases most likely to see the duration pushed past the 50 percent default.²

Why 23 Percent and Not 30

Older guides and some online calculators still use a 30 percent figure. That number is written into the statute, but it only activates if federal tax law changes to make alimony payments deductible for the payor and taxable to the recipient. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated that deduction for agreements executed after December 31, 2018, and that change does not sunset. As long as alimony remains non-deductible and non-taxable federally, the operative percentage is 23. A calculator running at 30 percent overstates the likely award by roughly a third.²

Changing the Order Later

Term alimony is not necessarily permanent. Under RSA 458:19-aa, either party can ask the court to modify the amount or duration based on a substantial change in circumstances. Job loss, a significant raise, retirement, or a serious health change are the usual triggers.

Cohabitation

If the recipient starts living with a new partner, the payor can petition to modify or terminate the order. The court looks at whether the new relationship resembles a marriage and whether keeping the existing order would be unjust. Specific factors include whether the couple lives together on a continual basis, shares expenses, is economically interdependent, owns property or financial accounts jointly, maintains an intimate relationship, and holds themselves out as a couple.⁶

Remarriage and Reinstatement

Remarriage by the recipient typically ends alimony. New Hampshire has an unusual follow-on rule: if alimony is terminated because of cohabitation or remarriage, the court can reinstate the original award if the cohabitation ends or the new marriage ends in divorce, provided the request comes within 5 years of the termination order. If the original order had a fixed end date, reinstatement does not push that date back; the clock kept running. If the original order specified a number of payments, reinstatement can cover the remaining payments.⁶

Reimbursement Alimony Is a Separate Track

The 23 percent formula does not apply to every award. New Hampshire also recognizes reimbursement alimony, which compensates a spouse who made significant economic or non-economic contributions to the other’s financial resources. The classic example is one spouse working to put the other through graduate school. When the property division alone can’t account for that contribution, the court can order reimbursement.²

Reimbursement alimony works differently in three ways. It caps at 5 years from the effective date of the final decree unless the parties agree otherwise. There is no percentage formula; the amount reflects the value of the contribution. And once ordered, it cannot be modified except by mutual agreement. The request has to be made before the final decree takes effect, or the claim is lost.²

Tax Treatment and Bankruptcy

For any divorce or separation agreement executed after December 31, 2018, alimony is neither deductible by the payor nor counted as income for the recipient. The payor pays taxes on the money before sending it; the recipient receives it tax-free. Agreements executed before 2019 may still follow the prior rules under which the payor deducted payments and the recipient reported them as income, and if you are modifying a pre-2019 order, the tax treatment of the original agreement matters.⁷

Alimony obligations survive bankruptcy. Domestic support obligations are specifically excluded from discharge in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 proceedings.⁸ The automatic stay that normally freezes collection actions against a debtor also does not apply to alimony, and income withholding for support continues uninterrupted after a bankruptcy filing.⁹

1
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 458:19-a – Term and Reimbursement Alimony
2
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes Section 458:19-a – Term and Reimbursement Alimony
3
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes Section 458:19 – Alimony
4
New Hampshire Judicial Branch. Financial Affidavit – Form NHJB-2065-F
5
Social Security Administration. If You Had A Prior Marriage
6
New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Revised Statutes Section 458:19-aa – Alimony Modification or Termination
7
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 523 – Exceptions to Discharge
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay