Spousal Support in New York: Amount, Duration, and Taxes

Spousal support in New York is called maintenance, and the state calculates it with a statutory formula tied to both spouses’ incomes, then sets its duration based on how long the marriage lasted. As of March 1, 2026, the formula applies to the first $241,000 of the paying spouse’s income, and judges have discretion over anything above that cap.¹ The guideline number can shift up or down after a judge weighs 15 statutory factors, and payments can be ordered while a divorce is pending or as part of the final judgment.

How the Amount Is Calculated

New York uses two formulas, and which one applies depends on whether child support is also being paid. The court runs the formula and a secondary cap calculation, then takes the lower result as the guideline amount.

When Child Support Is Also Being Paid

If the paying spouse is the noncustodial parent paying child support, the court multiplies the payor’s income by 20% and the payee’s income by 25%, then subtracts the second from the first. It also runs a separate calculation: 40% of the couple’s combined income minus the payee’s income. The guideline is the lower of the two results. If both come out to zero or less, no maintenance is owed.²

When No Child Support Is Being Paid

When there are no children, or the paying spouse is the custodial parent, the percentages change. The court multiplies the payor’s income by 30% and the payee’s income by 20%, subtracts the second from the first, and still applies the 40%-of-combined-income cap. Again, the lower figure wins.²

The Income Cap

The formulas only reach the payor’s income up to $241,000. That cap, effective March 1, 2026, adjusts every two years based on the Consumer Price Index.¹ For income above the cap, the judge can award additional maintenance based on the facts of the case. In high-earning marriages, the portion above the cap is often where the real fight happens, because no formula dictates the result.³

How Long Payments Last

New York publishes an advisory schedule that ties the duration of post-divorce maintenance to the length of the marriage:⁴

Up to 15 years of marriage: 15% to 30% of the marriage’s length
More than 15 and up to 20 years: 30% to 40% of the marriage’s length
More than 20 years: 35% to 50% of the marriage’s length

A 10-year marriage might produce payments lasting roughly 1.5 to 3 years. A 25-year marriage could result in payments for about 8.75 to 12.5 years. The schedule is advisory, so a judge can depart from it when the facts justify doing so, but it gives both sides a realistic benchmark for settlement talks. Awards can also be non-durational, meaning indefinite, but those are uncommon and generally reserved for very long marriages where one spouse realistically cannot return to work.³

Factors That Change the Guideline Number

The formula produces a starting point. A judge can then adjust the amount up or down after weighing 15 statutory factors, and any departure from the guideline must be explained in writing. The factors that tend to move the number most include:

Age and health of each spouse, including whether one is close to retirement or has a serious medical condition
Present income and realistic future earning capacity, including time out of the workforce for family
Career sacrifices, such as giving up education or professional opportunities during the marriage
Wasteful spending of marital assets through gambling, hidden purchases, or reckless decisions
The tax consequences of the payments to each spouse

Other listed factors include the marital standard of living, reduced earning capacity caused by domestic violence, the availability of health insurance, and any child support obligations that affect ability to pay.⁵

Temporary Support While the Divorce Is Pending

Maintenance can be ordered before the case is over. Temporary maintenance, sometimes called pendente lite support, keeps both households running until the judge issues a final order. It uses the same pair of formulas as post-divorce maintenance and lives in Domestic Relations Law Section 236(B)(5-a). Post-divorce maintenance, which begins after the judgment, falls under Section 236(B)(6).³

When Maintenance Ends

Payments end automatically when either spouse dies or when the recipient legally remarries. A remarriage that later turns out to be invalid still ends the obligation.³

Cohabitation is different. If the recipient moves in with a new partner and holds themselves out as that person’s spouse, the payor can ask the court to end maintenance, but termination is not automatic. The paying spouse has to file a motion and provide evidence of the cohabitation and the spousal-like relationship, and the judge decides. Simply living with a romantic partner, without evidence of a shared financial life presented as a marriage, usually isn’t enough.⁶

Changing an Order After It Is Entered

Either spouse can ask the court to modify an existing maintenance order by showing a substantial change in circumstances. Involuntary job loss, a serious medical diagnosis, or a major shift in either party’s finances are typical examples.³

If the original order incorporated terms from a settlement agreement, the standard is higher. The spouse seeking the change must show “extreme hardship,” not just a substantial change. That distinction catches many people off guard: agreeing to maintenance in a stipulated settlement makes those terms harder to undo later than if a judge had ordered them after a trial.³

Retirement is specifically recognized as a basis for reducing or ending maintenance, provided it causes a substantial change in financial circumstances. Courts look at whether the retirement is made in good faith and at a reasonable age. A 66-year-old leaving a demanding career after decades of work is treated very differently from a 52-year-old who stops working right after a maintenance order is signed.³

Enforcement When Payments Stop

The most common enforcement tool is an income deduction order. The court directs the payor’s employer to withhold maintenance from their paycheck and send it to the recipient. In many cases the court issues this order when it enters the award, without waiting for a missed payment.⁷

A spouse owed maintenance can also seek a money judgment for unpaid amounts, which accrues 9% interest. The court can hold a nonpaying spouse in contempt, which carries possible jail time. Most payors who receive a contempt motion find a way to catch up before the hearing.

Taxes: Where New York Splits From the Federal Rule

For any divorce or separation agreement finalized after December 31, 2018, federal tax law is clear: the paying spouse gets no deduction, and the recipient owes no federal income tax on the payments.⁸

New York did not follow suit. Under Tax Law Section 612(w), maintenance remains deductible for the payor on the state return and must be included in the recipient’s state taxable income, even for agreements executed after 2018.⁹ Both spouses need to track maintenance separately for state and federal filings. The payor benefits on the state return but not the federal one; the recipient owes state tax on the income but not federal tax. Missing this split is one of the most common post-divorce tax mistakes in New York.

Waiving Maintenance by Agreement

Spouses can waive or limit maintenance through a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. The agreement must be in writing, signed by both parties, and acknowledged in the same manner as a deed. The terms must have been fair and reasonable when signed, and not unconscionable at the time the court enters the final judgment of divorce.³

There is one hard limit. No agreement can waive maintenance in a way that would leave one spouse unable to support themselves and likely to become a public charge. Even an airtight prenup fails if enforcing it would push the other spouse onto public assistance. Courts also increasingly expect both parties to have understood the actual dollar value they were giving up, which usually means the agreement should include each party’s income and a maintenance calculation based on those figures.

1
New York Courts. What’s New in Matrimonial Legislation, Court Rules, and Forms
2
New York State Unified Court System. UD-8(2) Maintenance Guidelines Worksheet
3
New York State Senate. New York Domestic Relations Law 236 – Special Controlling Provisions; Prior Actions or Proceedings; New Actions or Proceedings
4
New York State Unified Court System. Advisory Schedule for Duration of Award of Post-Divorce Maintenance
5
New York State Unified Court System. 15 Factors for Post-Divorce Maintenance Pursuant to DRL 236B(6)(e)(1)
6
New York State Senate. New York Domestic Relations Law 248
7
New York State Senate. New York Civil Practice Law and Rules 5242 – Income Execution for Support Enforcement
8
Internal Revenue Service. Alimony and Separate Maintenance
9
New York State Senate. New York Tax Law 612