Spousal Maintenance (Alimony) in New York: The Formula, the $241,000 Cap and How Long It Lasts
New York family law · Last reviewed October 7, 2026
New York doesn't use the word "alimony" in its statutes. It calls support between spouses maintenance, and since 2015 it has set the amount with a formula written into Domestic Relations Law § 236(B). There are two kinds:
- Temporary maintenance, paid while the divorce is pending (§ 236(B)(5-a)). It ends "no later than the issuance of the judgment of divorce or the death of either party, whichever occurs first."
- Post-divorce maintenance, ordered in the judgment (§ 236(B)(6)), for a set period or, in some cases, with no end date.
Both use the same formula. Maintenance is gender-neutral: whichever spouse earns more is the potential payor.
The formula
The formula compares the two spouses' annual incomes, using the higher earner's income only up to the income cap, which is $241,000 as of March 1, 2026. Which version applies depends on whether the payor will also pay child support to the other spouse.
When child support will be paid and the payor is the non-custodial parent, § 236(B)(6)(c)(1):
(a) the court shall subtract twenty-five percent of the payee's income from twenty percent of the payor's income. (b) the court shall then multiply the sum of the payor's income and the payee's income by forty percent.
When there are no children, or the payor is the custodial parent, step (a) changes, § 236(B)(6)(c)(2):
(a) the court shall subtract twenty percent of the payee's income from thirty percent of the payor's income.
In either case, the court then subtracts the payee's income from the step (b) figure, takes the lower of the two results, and if that is zero or less, the guideline amount is zero. The 40% test keeps maintenance from giving the lower earner more than 40% of the couple's combined income.
Maintenance comes first. The statute says "maintenance shall be calculated prior to child support because the amount of maintenance shall be subtracted from the payor's income and added to the payee's income as part of the calculation of the child support obligation." See child support.
New York maintenance guideline calculator
Domestic Relations Law § 236(B)(5-a) and (6) · payor income cap $241,000 and self-support reserve $21,546 (as of March 1, 2026) · a guideline figure, not a ruling
What "income" means
Income is the same income used for child support (the figure on your federal tax return, with additions and deductions listed in § 240(1-b)), but without subtracting maintenance paid to this spouse, plus income from property distributed in the divorce (§ 236(B)(6)(b)(3)). Deductions include FICA taxes and New York City or Yonkers income taxes actually paid.
Above the cap
If the payor earns more than the cap, the formula runs on income up to the cap. For income above it, "the amount of additional maintenance awarded, if any, shall be within the discretion of the court," after weighing the statutory factors, and the court must explain its reasons. The cap was $184,000 when the current law was written; it rises every two years with inflation and is published by the Office of Court Administration. It went from $228,000 to $241,000 on March 1, 2026, and the next adjustment is due in 2028.
The self-support reserve
Maintenance can't push the payor below the self-support reserve, $21,546 a year as of March 1, 2026. If the formula amount would, the guideline amount becomes the payor's income minus the reserve. If the payor earns less than the reserve to begin with, the law presumes no maintenance.
When the court departs from the formula
The court must order the guideline amount up to the cap "unless the court finds that the post-divorce maintenance guideline obligation is unjust or inappropriate," after considering the factors below, and it must explain any adjustment in writing or on the record.
How long post-divorce maintenance lasts
The statute includes an advisory schedule based on the length of the marriage, measured "from the date of marriage until the date of commencement of the action" (§ 236(B)(6)(f)(1)):
| Length of the marriage | Maintenance lasts this share of it |
|---|---|
| Up to and including 15 years | 15% to 30% |
| More than 15, up to and including 20 years | 30% to 40% |
| More than 20 years | 35% to 50% |
A 10-year marriage, for example, points to roughly 1½ to 3 years of maintenance; a 25-year marriage to about 8¾ to 12½ years. The schedule is advisory: "Nothing herein shall prevent the court from awarding non-durational maintenance in an appropriate case." The court also considers each spouse's expected retirement assets and retirement age.
The factors
To decide whether the formula amount is unjust or inappropriate, and in setting duration, the court weighs the factors in § 236(B)(6)(e)(1). In plain terms:
- Each spouse's age and health.
- Present and future earning capacity, including time out of the workforce.
- The need of one spouse to pay for education or training.
- Child support ending before maintenance, where child support reduced the maintenance amount.
- Wasteful dissipation of marital property, and unfair transfers in contemplation of divorce.
- Separate households before the divorce, or a joint household before the marriage.
- Acts that inhibited a spouse's earning capacity or ability to work, including domestic violence.
- Availability and cost of medical insurance.
- Caring for children, stepchildren, disabled adult children, or elderly parents or in-laws during the marriage, where it limited a spouse's earning capacity.
- Tax consequences.
- The standard of living during the marriage.
- Earning capacity reduced or lost because a spouse gave up or delayed education, training or a career.
- The property division and the income from distributed property.
- The payee's contributions as a spouse, parent, wage earner and homemaker, and to the other spouse's career.
- Any other factor the court expressly finds just and proper.
Temporary maintenance has a similar list of thirteen factors (§ 236(B)(5-a)(h)).
Counsel fees
Divorce litigation is expensive, and New York helps level it. Under DRL § 237, "There shall be a rebuttable presumption that counsel fees shall be awarded to the less monied spouse." The higher earner can be ordered to pay part of the other spouse's legal fees, during the case and at the end.
When maintenance ends or changes
- Death or remarriage. "an award of maintenance shall terminate upon the death of either party or upon the payee's valid or invalid marriage" (§ 236(B)(1)(a)). On the payor's application, with proof of the payee's remarriage, the court must annul the maintenance provisions (§ 248).
- Cohabitation. Under § 248, the court may modify or end maintenance on proof that the payee "is habitually living with another person and holding himself or herself out as the spouse of such other person, although not married to such other person." Living together alone isn't enough; holding out as spouses is part of the test.
- Changed circumstances. A court-ordered award can be modified on "a showing of the payee's inability to be self-supporting or upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstance, including financial hardship or upon actual full or partial retirement of the payor if the retirement results in a substantial change in financial circumstances" (§ 236(B)(9)(b)(1)).
- Agreements. Where a settlement agreement survives the judgment, the payor must show "extreme hardship" to change agreed maintenance. Agreements must be in writing, signed and acknowledged like a deed, and their maintenance terms must be "fair and reasonable at the time of the making of the agreement and are not unconscionable at the time of entry of final judgment" (§ 236(B)(3)).
Taxes: New York differs from federal law
For divorce or separation agreements signed after December 31, 2018, the IRS doesn't let the payer deduct maintenance and doesn't tax the recipient. New York didn't follow that change. For New York income tax, the recipient adds maintenance back to income and the payer subtracts it, using adjustment codes A-119 and S-136 on Form IT-225. Factor (10), tax consequences, is where this shows up in a negotiation.
Frequently asked questions
How is spousal maintenance calculated in New York?
With the formula in DRL § 236(B). Without child support: 30% of the payor's income minus 20% of the payee's. With child support paid by the payor: 20% minus 25%. Compare the result with 40% of combined income minus the payee's income and use the lower figure. Payor income above $241,000 isn't included in the formula.
What is the maintenance cap in New York for 2026?
$241,000 of the payor's annual income, effective March 1, 2026, up from $228,000. It is adjusted every two years. The court can award additional maintenance on income above the cap.
How long does alimony last in New York?
The advisory schedule is 15% to 30% of the length of the marriage for marriages up to 15 years, 30% to 40% for 15 to 20 years, and 35% to 50% for more than 20 years. The court can depart from it and can award non-durational maintenance in appropriate cases.
Does maintenance end if my ex moves in with someone?
Not automatically. The court may modify or end it if the recipient is habitually living with someone and holding himself or herself out as that person's spouse. Remarriage ends it.
Is maintenance taxable in New York?
For agreements signed after 2018, not for federal tax. But New York still taxes maintenance to the recipient and lets the payer deduct it on the state return.
Can a husband get alimony in New York?
Yes. Maintenance is gender-neutral; the higher earner pays, whoever that is.