How Is Alimony Calculated in Kansas?

Alimony (also called maintenance) is a court-ordered payment from one spouse to the other during the divorce process and potentially for some time after.

Historically, courts awarded alimony when one spouse worked outside the home, while the other worked in the home raising children and doing household chores. Divorce for both spouses can cause financial problems, but for unemployed spouses without job skills, adjusting to one income can cause financial ruin.

Although it’s common for both spouses to work outside the home today, lower-earning spouses often need financial assistance in the form of alimony payments to make ends meet during and sometimes after a divorce.

Types of Alimony Available in Kansas

As in many other states, judges in Kansas can award three types of alimony:

• temporary (during the divorce),
• short-term, or
• long-term. 

Temporary Alimony

For some couples, living together during the lengthy divorce process isn’t possible, so when one person files for divorce, both spouses will need to adjust to living on a single income. If one spouse earns more than the other and can afford it, the court may order temporary alimony so that the lower-earning spouse can meet financial obligations during the divorce.

An award of temporary alimony isn't a guarantee that a judge will award post-divorce alimony. 

Post-Divorce Alimony

After the divorce, the judge may award short- or long-term alimony if appropriate. A short-term award—sometimes called rehabilitative alimony—supports a spouse who can work but needs some additional time and financial assistance to become financially independent.  

A court typically orders short-term support when the recipient spouse is attending school or acquiring job training to compete in the current job market. The judge may request the supported spouse to create a plan explaining how long it will take to gain the proper training and skills to get a job and become self-supporting. The court will usually set an end date for support, which is the deadline for the supported spouse to find employment.

Long-term support is rare, but in some cases, it's the only way that one spouse can get by after a divorce. While the court presumes that both spouses will work after the divorce and become self-supporting, some spouses aren’t able to because of advanced age, health issues, disabilities, or other circumstances. Long-term support typically ends when either spouse dies, or the receiving spouse remarries. If the divorce decree includes a cohabitation clause, support can also end automatically if the receiving spouse moves in with a new partner.

Even long-term awards are subject to Kansas's 121-month cap on court-ordered alimony (see below), unless the spouses agree in writing to a longer term or the original decree allows the court to reassess and reinstate support in additional periods. (Kan. Stat. §§ 23-2904, 23-2712(a)-(b) (2026).)

Kansas's 121-Month Rule

Kansas judges may not order alimony for longer than 121 months. However, if the original court order states that a judge can review and reassess after the initial 121 months, a judge may order additional support. It’s rare in Kansas for any alimony award to exceed this time limit, unless the spouses agree to an extension. (Kan. Stat. §§ 23-2904, 23-2712(a)-(b) (2026).)

Who Qualifies for Alimony in Kansas?

The primary consideration in any alimony case is whether one spouse needs financial support and the other spouse has the ability to pay support.  Either spouse can ask the court for alimony, regardless of gender, and the court will consider many factors when deciding whether maintenance is appropriate.

Unlike many other states, Kansas doesn’t have a specific set of factors for the court to consider in alimony cases, but commonly, judges will evaluate:

• the length of the marriage
• each spouse’s financial resources
• the couple’s standard of living during the marriage
• each spouse’s age and health (physical and mental)
• both spouses’ contributions to the marriage, including financial contributions and taking care of the home and children
• how long it will take the supported spouse to acquire the necessary education or training to become employed and financially independent, and
• the paying spouse’s ability to support themself while paying alimony. 

Judges have broad discretion when ordering alimony, and no single factor is more important than the others. The award must be fair, just, and equitable under all of the circumstances. Learn more about how judges decide alimony amounts. 

As with most divorce-related issues, like child support, child custody, and property division, couples can negotiate the terms of alimony, and the judge will usually approve their settlement agreement and make it an enforceable court order.

Does Adultery Affect Alimony in Kansas?

In Kansas, you can file for divorce on fault and no-fault grounds. 

The no-fault ground for divorce is “incompatibility.” This basically means that you and your spouse can’t get along, and there’s no reasonable prospect of that changing. Kansas also allows you to file for a fault divorce based on your spouse's "failure to perform a material marital duty or obligation"—language broad enough to cover adultery, even though the statute doesn't name it specifically.  (Kan. Stat. § 23-2701 (2022).)

Even so, which ground you use to get a divorce doesn't determine how much alimony you'll pay or receive. Kansas courts have ruled that a spouse's fault, including infidelity, shouldn't factor into the financial side of the divorce unless the misconduct was "so gross and extreme" that ignoring it would be unfair. (In re the Marriage of Vandenberg, 43 Kan. App. 2d 697 (Kan. Ct. App. 2010).) In practice, ordinary infidelity rarely meets that bar, so it's unlikely to impact an alimony award in Kansas.

Enforcing an Alimony Order in Kansas

Spouses paying alimony in Kansas may pay in a lump sum, through periodic payments, or as a percentage of earnings. (Kan. Stat. § 23-2902 (2026).) 

Unless the couple agrees to a different arrangement, the court will generally require the paying spouse to make support payments through the Kansas Payment Center—the state's central unit for collecting and disbursing support payments, run by the Kansas Department for Children and Families. (Kan. Stat. §§ 23-2905, 39-7,135 (2026).)

The court will generally include an income withholding order to help facilitate payments. An income withholding order directs the paying spouse’s employer to deduct support payments from the employee’s paycheck. (Kan. Stat. § 23-3103 (2026).)

Regardless of what type of payment a judge orders (periodic, lump sum, or percentage), the paying spouse must obey the court order. In every support order, the court reserves the right to exercise contempt powers over the paying spouse, meaning if that spouse fails to pay, the court will require them to attend a hearing and explain why they're not following the court order. A finding of contempt is serious and carries penalties, such as paying the receiving spouse’s attorney fees or paying fines. If the paying spouse still doesn't comply after the court issues a warrant or subpoena in the case, the court can also report them to their professional licensing board or restrict their driver's license. (Kan. Stat. § 23-3119 (2026).)

Unless you and your spouse agreed otherwise, either of you can request a modification (change) to the support award in the future. The court will modify your award if you can demonstrate that your (or your spouse’s) circumstances changed since the last order. (Kan. Stat. § 23-2903 (2026).)

Taxes and Alimony

In the past, paying spouses could deduct alimony payments on their taxes, and supported spouses had to report and pay taxes on the alimony they received. That changed under federal tax law for any divorce finalized on or after January 1, 2019. Paying spouses can no longer deduct alimony payments, and recipients no longer owe taxes on the money they receive. Kansas bases its state income tax on your federal adjusted gross income, so the same rule applies on your Kansas return. 

If you have questions about alimony tax rules or any other issues in your divorce, a divorce lawyer can explain the law and help you find the best path forward in your case.