What is spousal maintenance in New York?
Spousal maintenance, often called alimony, is support one spouse pays the other: temporary maintenance while the divorce is pending, and post-divorce maintenance set in the judgment. Unless the spouses have an agreement covering maintenance, Domestic Relations Law (DRL) § 236(B)(5-a) and (6) supply a guideline formula for the amount and an advisory schedule for how long post-divorce maintenance lasts.
The payor is the higher-income spouse and the payee the lower-income spouse. “Income” is defined as for child support (generally gross income minus items such as FICA and New York City or Yonkers income taxes), without subtracting maintenance paid to the other spouse; post-divorce, it includes income from property distributed in the divorce.
The 2026 maintenance income cap: $241,000
The income cap is the amount of the payor’s annual income to which the formula applies. It rose from $228,000 to $241,000 on March 1, 2026 (it was $203,000 before March 1, 2024). The statute raises it every two years by the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), and the Office of Court Administration publishes it; the next adjustment is scheduled for March 1, 2028.
The cap applies only to the payor’s income; the payee’s full income is used. A cap increase is not, by itself, a ground to modify an existing order.
How is spousal maintenance calculated?
The formula is the same for every marriage. Only the advisory duration depends on how long the marriage lasted.
When the payor does not also pay child support
- Calculation A: 30% of the payor’s income (up to the cap) minus 20% of the payee’s income.
- Calculation B: 40% of combined income (the payor’s income up to the cap plus all of the payee’s income), minus the payee’s income.
- The guideline amount is the lower of A and B; if the result is zero or less, it is zero.
This version also applies when there are children but the payor is the custodial parent.
When the payor also pays child support
If child support will be paid for children of the marriage and the payor is the non-custodial parent, Calculation A becomes 20% of the payor’s income minus 25% of the payee’s income. Calculation B and the lower-of rule stay the same. Maintenance is calculated first, then subtracted from the payor’s income and added to the payee’s before child support is calculated.
The self-support reserve
If paying the guideline amount would leave the payor below the self-support reserve ($21,546 as of March 1, 2026), the guideline amount becomes the difference between the payor’s income and the reserve. If the payor’s income is already below the reserve, there is a rebuttable presumption that no maintenance is awarded.
Example 1: no child support, payor above the cap
For example, suppose a 12-year marriage with no children. After the statutory deductions, the payor’s income is $300,000 and the payee’s is $90,000. These round numbers only illustrate the math.
- Payor income used in the formula: $241,000 (the cap).
- Calculation A: 30% × $241,000 = $72,300, minus 20% × $90,000 = $18,000, leaves $54,300.
- Calculation B: 40% × ($241,000 + $90,000) = 40% × $331,000 = $132,400, minus $90,000, leaves $42,400.
- Guideline amount: the lower figure, $42,400 a year (about $3,533 a month).
- Above the cap: the court may award more, based on the payor’s $59,000 above the cap, after considering the statutory factors.
- Advisory duration: 15%–30% of 12 years, or about 1.8 to 3.6 years.
Calculation B controls here because the payee’s income is more than a quarter of the payor’s capped income.
Example 2: the payor also pays child support
For example, suppose an 18-year marriage with two children who live mainly with the payee. After the statutory deductions, the payor’s income is $150,000 and the payee’s is $40,000.
- Calculation A: 20% × $150,000 = $30,000, minus 25% × $40,000 = $10,000, leaves $20,000.
- Calculation B: 40% × ($150,000 + $40,000) = 40% × $190,000 = $76,000, minus $40,000, leaves $36,000.
- Guideline amount: the lower figure, $20,000 a year (about $1,667 a month).
- Child support is then figured on $130,000 for the payor ($150,000 − $20,000) and $60,000 for the payee ($40,000 + $20,000). Combined income is $190,000, under the $193,000 child support cap: 25% × $190,000 = $47,500, of which the payor pays about 68%, or $32,500 a year.
- Advisory duration: 30%–40% of 18 years, or about 5.4 to 7.2 years.
The order should also provide for adjusting child support when maintenance ends. Our guide to the 2026 child support cap and formula explains the child support step, and our support calculator gives an estimate for your own numbers.
How long does spousal maintenance last?
For post-divorce maintenance, the court may use this advisory schedule. The length of the marriage runs from the wedding to the date the divorce action was started.
| Length of marriage | Duration (percent of the length of the marriage) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Up to and including 15 years | 15%–30% | 10 years: 1.5 to 3 years |
| More than 15, up to and including 20 years | 30%–40% | 18 years: 5.4 to 7.2 years |
| More than 20 years | 35%–50% | 25 years: 8.75 to 12.5 years |
Whether or not it uses the schedule, the court must consider the statutory factors and state which ones it relied on. It may award non-durational maintenance (with no fixed end date) in an appropriate case, and must consider retirement assets, benefits and eligibility age when they can be determined (DRL § 236(B)(6)(f)).
Temporary vs. post-divorce maintenance
Temporary maintenance, paid while the case is pending, uses the same formula, cap and self-support reserve. Its duration is set by considering the length of the marriage, it ends no later than the judgment or either spouse’s death, and it does not prejudice either side on post-divorce maintenance (DRL § 236(B)(5-a)). Post-divorce maintenance also counts income from distributed property and adds two factors: the equitable distribution and the payee’s contributions as a spouse, parent, wage earner and homemaker.
What factors can change the guideline amount?
The court must award the guideline amount on income up to the cap unless it finds that amount “unjust or inappropriate” under the statutory factors. If it adjusts the amount, it must state the unadjusted figure, the factors it considered and its reasons, in writing or on the record (DRL § 236(B)(6)(e)).
The post-divorce factors are: age and health; present or future earning capacity, including limited participation in the workforce; one party’s need for education or training; child support ending before maintenance, where child support lowered the maintenance amount; wasteful dissipation of marital property; a pre-marital joint household or pre-divorce separate household; acts, including domestic violence, that inhibited a party’s earning capacity; the availability and cost of medical insurance; caregiving for children, disabled adult children, elderly parents or in-laws that inhibited earning capacity; tax consequences; the marital standard of living; the payee’s earning capacity lost by forgoing or delaying education or career opportunities; the equitable distribution of marital property and income from it; the payee’s contributions as a spouse, parent, wage earner and homemaker and to the other party’s career; and any other factor the court expressly finds just and proper.
The length of the marriage and separate property are not on the list. Marriage length shapes duration through the advisory schedule.
Maintenance on income above the cap
For payor income above $241,000, any additional maintenance is “within the discretion of the court,” which must consider one or more statutory factors and set out the factors and its reasons in writing or on the record; the parties cannot waive that explanation (DRL § 236(B)(6)(d)). There is no fixed percentage for the excess. Our guide to maintenance above the $241,000 cap covers how courts approach it.
Can spouses agree to a different amount?
Yes. Spouses may agree to more or less than the guideline amount, or waive maintenance, in a prenuptial, postnuptial or settlement agreement (DRL § 236(B)(6)(h)). The agreement must be written, signed and acknowledged; maintenance terms must be fair and reasonable when made and not unconscionable at judgment (DRL § 236(B)(3)); and no agreement may leave a spouse likely to become a public charge (General Obligations Law § 5-311).
In J.M. v. G.V., 2025 NY Slip Op 25004 (Sup. Ct., Kings County 2025), a trial court declined to enforce a prenuptial maintenance waiver signed by a spouse without a lawyer, where the agreement did not disclose the parties’ incomes or the guideline amount being waived. See our discussion of that trial-level decision.
Is spousal maintenance taxable?
Federal income tax. Under the 2017 federal tax law (Public Law 115-97, often called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act), maintenance paid under a divorce or separation agreement or judgment executed after December 31, 2018 is not deductible by the payer or taxable to the recipient. Payments under an instrument executed before 2019 keep the old treatment unless a later modification expressly adopts the new rule (IRS Publication 504).
New York State income tax. New York did not follow the federal change. For post-2018 instruments, the payer subtracts maintenance paid and the recipient adds maintenance received when computing New York income (Tax Law § 612(w); Form IT-225 modifications S-136 and A-119). Review the tax effect with a tax professional before agreeing to an amount.
When does maintenance end, and can it be modified?
Post-divorce maintenance ends on the death of either spouse or the payee’s marriage, valid or invalid (DRL § 236(B)(6)(f)(3)). Under DRL § 248, on the payor’s application the court must end maintenance once the payee remarries, and it may end maintenance if the payee is habitually living with another person and holding himself or herself out as that person’s spouse.
Under DRL § 236(B)(9)(b)(1), the court may modify a maintenance award made after trial on a showing of the payee’s inability to be self-supporting, a substantial change in circumstances (including financial hardship), or the payor’s actual full or partial retirement if it causes a substantial change in financial circumstances. If the terms come from an agreement that remains in force after the judgment, the standard is extreme hardship. A cap increase is not a listed ground.
Arrears reduced to a final judgment cannot be reduced, and other past-due maintenance generally cannot be reduced without good cause for not applying sooner, so apply promptly if your circumstances change.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the current spousal maintenance income cap in New York (2026)?
Since March 1, 2026, New York’s maintenance guidelines apply to the paying spouse’s income up to $241,000, up from $228,000; the recipient’s full income is used. Additional maintenance on income above the cap is up to the court after it considers the statutory factors. The cap is adjusted every two years, and the next adjustment is scheduled for March 1, 2028.
How long does spousal maintenance last in New York?
Post-divorce maintenance follows an advisory schedule based on the length of the marriage, from the wedding to the start of the divorce action: 15% to 30% of that length for marriages up to 15 years, 30% to 40% for more than 15 up to 20 years, and 35% to 50% for more than 20 years. The court may depart from it and may award maintenance with no fixed end date in an appropriate case.
Is spousal maintenance taxable in New York?
For federal income tax, maintenance paid under a divorce or separation agreement or judgment executed after December 31, 2018 is not deductible by the payer or taxable to the recipient. New York State did not adopt that change: for those instruments, the payer subtracts maintenance paid and the recipient adds maintenance received on the state return. Older instruments generally keep the prior federal treatment.
How is maintenance calculated when child support is also paid?
If the higher earner also pays child support as the non-custodial parent, the court subtracts 25% of the lower earner’s income from 20% of the higher earner’s income (counted only up to $241,000), compares that with 40% of combined income minus the lower earner’s income, and uses the lower figure. Maintenance is figured first; both incomes are then adjusted for child support.
Does spousal maintenance end if the recipient remarries or lives with someone?
Post-divorce maintenance ends when the recipient marries, even if that marriage is invalid, or when either spouse dies. Under DRL § 248, a court may also end maintenance if the recipient is habitually living with another person and holding himself or herself out as that person’s spouse. That ground is discretionary and requires more than living together. If maintenance comes from an agreement, check its termination terms too.
Joel Yacoob personally handles maintenance matters, from guideline calculations to above-cap and modification disputes. Learn more about our child support and spousal maintenance practice and our high-net-worth divorce work, or start your case online.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The law changes and every situation is different; consult a lawyer about your own circumstances.
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