Alimony in the United States

Alimony is governed in the United States by U.S. state laws, which establish requirements regarding payments, recovery and penalties. The determination of alimony varies greatly from state to state within the U.S. Some state statutes, including those of Texas, Montana, Kansas, Utah, Kentucky and Maine, give explicit guidelines to judges on the amount and/or duration of alimony. In Texas, Mississippi and Tennessee, for example, alimony is awarded only in cases of marriage or civil union of ten years or longer and the payments are limited to three years unless there are special, extenuating circumstances.

Alimony terms are among the most frequent issues causing litigation in family law cases. Eighty percent of divorce cases involve a request for modification of alimony.

In Texas, there is a legal presumption that alimony is not appropriate. Only after the requesting spouse can reasonably demonstrate that they have given the best effort in good faith to secure an independent income but failed is a petition for alimony taken into consideration. The amount of spousal support in that may be awarded is limited to the lesser of $5,000 per month or 20% of the payee's gross income.

Some states, including California, Nevada and New York, have spousal support statutes that list factors that a judge should consider when determining alimony. In these states, the determination of duration and amount of alimony is left to the discretion of the family court judges as limited by legal precedent. In 2012, Massachusetts enacted alimony reform that set limits on alimony and eliminated lifetime alimony. In 2013, Colorado signed into law alimony reform, creating a standardized non-presumptive guideline upon which courts can rely.