SupportDecode

Reviewed for current 2026 law

Maine Alimony Calculator

Maine law calls alimony spousal support and recognizes five types. A new law adds a presumed amount for general support in actions pending on or after January 1, 2027.

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spousal-support framework

No statewide dollar formula

No invented award amount

No responsible dollar estimate is available

Maine leaves the amount of spousal support to the judge in actions pending before January 1, 2027. For actions pending on or after that date, Public Law 2025, chapter 571 adds a presumed general-support amount. Courts weigh the factors below.

Factors the court weighs instead

  1. 1Marriage length and each party’s ability to pay
  2. 2Age, health, employment, income, education, training, retirement and insurance
  3. 3Tax consequences, homemaker and career contributions
  4. 4Economic misconduct or economic abuse
  5. 5Marital standard of living and ability to become self-supporting
  6. 6Property income, child support, and any other appropriate factor

19-A M.R.S. § 951-A(5)

Duration limits

  • General support presumptions: General support is presumptively unavailable under 10 years; for marriages of 10 through 20 years, a term beyond half the marriage is presumptively unavailable. Both presumptions are rebuttable.
  • Marriages over 20 years (from 2027): For actions pending on or after January 1, 2027, general support is presumed for an indefinite period after a marriage of more than 20 years.
  • Other support types: Transitional, reimbursement, nominal, and interim support serve distinct statutory purposes.

19-A M.R.S. § 951-A(2); P.L. 2025, ch. 571

Assumptions

  • This tool does not estimate a dollar amount for discretionary states: any number would be invented.
  • Maine provides duration presumptions. Public Law 2025, chapter 571, in effect July 29, 2026, adds a presumed general-support amount for actions pending on or after January 1, 2027.

Estimate only. The court or state agency calculation controls.

Maine alimony under 19-A M.R.S. § 951-A.

Maine recognizes five support types

Under 19-A M.R.S. § 951-A, general support addresses a large gap in income potential, transitional support covers short-term needs or reentry into the workforce, reimbursement support is for exceptional cases the property division cannot fix, nominal support keeps the court’s power to award support later, and interim support applies while the case is pending.

Marriage length drives general support. There is a rebuttable presumption against general support for marriages under 10 years, and for marriages of 10 to 20 years, against a term longer than half the marriage. For actions pending on or after January 1, 2027, marriages of more than 20 years are presumed to receive general support for an indefinite period.

Public Law 2025, chapter 571, in effect since July 29, 2026, adds a presumed amount for those later actions. After at least 10 years of marriage, a spouse whose spousal support income is 65 percent or less of the other’s is presumed entitled to general support. The presumed yearly amount is the difference in the parties’ spousal support incomes times 0.015 for each year of marriage, with that factor capped at 0.3.

Every order must state the type of support, how it is paid, and its terms. Support ends when either party dies unless the order says otherwise, and a final judgment that awards no support rules out an award later in that action.

Authority
19-A M.R.S. §951-Asource
Support types
Fivesource
Dollar formula
None before January 1, 2027; then a presumed general-support amountsource
New law
In effect July 29, 2026; applies to actions pending on or after January 1, 2027source
Modification
Substantial change in financial circumstances, for awards since October 1, 2013source

Identify the support purpose first

Then organize evidence around income potential, health, training, property, economic conduct, standard of living, and ability to pay.

For a case still pending on January 1, 2027, both spouses’ gross incomes and any child support figures matter more, because the new presumed amount is built on spousal support incomes: gross income as defined for child support, less child support amounts from the worksheet.

What this estimate includes

  • All support types
  • Duration presumptions, including the 2027 changes
  • Statutory factor framework

What it leaves out

  • Fabricated award
  • Outcome prediction

Maine spousal-support framework FAQs

Can short marriages receive general support?

The presumption is against general support for marriages under 10 years, but a court can find that applying it would be inequitable or unjust. For actions pending on or after January 1, 2027, a court may also award general support when a substantial injustice would otherwise result.

What is transitional support?

It addresses short-term needs caused by the financial dislocation of the divorce, or reentry or advancement in the workforce.

What is reimbursement support?

It addresses exceptional equitable circumstances not fully resolved through property distribution.

Is there a statewide dollar formula?

Not for actions pending before January 1, 2027. Public Law 2025, chapter 571, in effect since July 29, 2026, adds rebuttable presumptions for general support in actions pending on or after that date. After at least 10 years of marriage, a spouse whose spousal support income is 65% or less of the other spouse’s is presumed entitled to general support. The presumed annual amount is the difference in the parties’ spousal support incomes multiplied by 0.015 for each year of marriage, with that factor capped at 0.3. A court can depart from it with written findings that the result would be inequitable or unjust.

What does the 2027 presumption look like with numbers?

Take a 15-year marriage with spousal support incomes of $90,000 and $30,000. The lower income is below 65% of the higher, so general support is presumed. The factor is 15 times 0.015, or 0.225, and the presumed amount is $60,000 times 0.225, or $13,500 a year. This is arithmetic from the statute, not a prediction, and the presumption can be rebutted.

Can Maine spousal support be modified?

Awards issued on or after October 1, 2013 can be modified when there is a substantial change in financial circumstances and justice requires it. The new presumed amount alone cannot be the reason to change an award issued before 2027.

When does spousal support end in Maine?

At the death of either party unless the order says otherwise. The order can also limit support tied to the recipient’s remarriage or cohabitation; the statute no longer contains an automatic cohabitation cut-off.

Can support be nominal?

Yes. Nominal support preserves the court’s authority to award support in the future. A final judgment with no award at all rules out support later in that action.

Does economic abuse matter?

Yes. Economic misconduct and economic abuse are both express factors, and economic abuse is one of the circumstances that can justify reimbursement support.

Is spousal support taxable?

For federal taxes, support paid under divorce or separation agreements signed after 2018 is not deductible by the payer and is not income to the recipient, according to IRS Topic 452.

Good to know in Maine

  • The court can make, modify, or enforce a spousal support award while an action is pending, including during an appeal.
  • Chapter 571 also changes factors that apply to every support type in later actions: it removes child support from one factor and adds whether support combined with child support would be inequitable or unjust, and whether the parties’ incomes are so low or so high that the presumed amount would be.

Official sources

Official sources last verified: .

Changelog: page reviewed . Material changes appear in the update log.