How Is Alimony Calculated in Arizona?

Alimony—known as "spousal maintenance" in Arizona—is money that one spouse pays to the other during or after the divorce. Earning less than your spouse doesn't guarantee you'll get maintenance. Arizona uses statewide guidelines to decide who qualifies for it, how much they get, and how long payments last.

Below you'll find an overview of the guidelines and how they work.

What Are Arizona's Spousal Maintenance Guidelines?

Arizona's spousal maintenance guidelines are rules judges must follow when deciding alimony. The Arizona Supreme Court adopted the first version of the guidelines in 2023 and later revised them, effective September 1, 2025, under Administrative Order No. 2025-101.

The guidelines have three stated goals:

• to allow the requesting spouse to become self-sufficient
• to achieve consistency in awards for spouses in similar circumstances, and
• to encourage settlements by ensuring awards will be predictable.

The calculator's numbers come from U.S. government data on typical household spending, adjusted for family size and inflation. (Arizona's Spousal Maintenance Guidelines, revised effective September 1, 2025 ("Guidelines") § I.A.)

Arizona courts offer a free online spousal maintenance calculator that provides a potential range for both the amount and length of alimony payments. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 25-319 (2026).)

When Do the Spousal Maintenance Guidelines Apply to My Divorce?

The guidelines apply if you or your spouse filed for divorce (or "dissolution of marriage") or legal separation in Arizona on or after September 24, 2022. They also apply to any later request to modify maintenance in those cases.

If you filed before September 24, 2022, the guidelines don't apply unless both spouses agree to use them. In older cases, judges still have broad discretion to decide what's fair.

Can Couples Agree to Skip the Guidelines?

You and your spouse can agree not to use the guidelines, or to an amount or length of time outside the calculator's range. For the agreement to be legally enforceable, you must:

• put it in writing or state it on the record in court
• both understand what the guideline amount would have been
• enter the agreement voluntarily without pressure, and
• have a judge confirm the deal isn't unfair given your finances. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-317, 25-319(D) (2026); Guidelines § V.E.4.)

If you and your spouse reach a comprehensive divorce settlement agreement (known in Arizona law as a "separation agreement") before you file, including alimony, you might qualify for a faster, cheaper "summary consent decree" divorce in Arizona.

Does Arizona Have Different Types of Alimony?

Arizona doesn't label alimony by type or purpose the way some states do, and there's no such thing as "permanent" or "lifetime" alimony. There are only two categories:

• temporary maintenance (paid while the divorce is pending), and
• post-divorce maintenance (paid after the decree is final).

The guidelines apply to temporary and post-divorce orders, but with some differences for temporary orders.

How Does Temporary Maintenance Work?

While a divorce is pending, a judge can order temporary maintenance to keep the status quo. The same amount range from the calculator applies, but income generally won't be attributed to the spouse asking for support unless that spouse has held a full-time job for at least 24 months before the petition was filed. The judge will also factor in how the spouses are splitting shared bills, like the mortgage, during this period. (Guidelines, § VI.)

Temporary maintenance doesn't count against the duration of any later post-divorce award unless the judge says otherwise. (Guidelines, § VI.E.)

Who Qualifies for Spousal Maintenance in Arizona?

Arizona's guidelines use a two-step test: eligibility first, then entitlement to spousal maintenance.

Step 1: Are You Eligible?

A judge can consider awarding maintenance only if you meet at least one of the following conditions:

• You don't have enough property to meet your needs, even after property has been divided in the divorce.
• You don't have enough earning ability to support yourself.
• You shouldn't have to work outside the home because of your child's age or needs.
• You gave up income, education, or career opportunities to help your spouse's career, or helped build your spouse's earning power.
• You're unlikely to become self-sufficient because of your age and a long marriage. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 25-319(A) (2026).)

Arizona law doesn't set an exact number of years for a "long" marriage. Many family law attorneys treat 15 years or more as the rough benchmark.

Step 2: Are You Entitled to an Award?

Meeting one eligibility factor doesn't guarantee money. Next, the judge runs the calculator and decides whether the result is fair. If the judge finds that following the guideline amount would be unjust, the judge can award a different amount or nothing at all.

How Arizona's Spousal Maintenance Calculator Works

To use the calculator, you'll need:

• the date you got married
• your family size (both spouses, plus any children either of you is legally required to support and actually supporting), and
• both spouses' "spousal maintenance income."

(Guidelines §§ I.E., II, III.)

What Counts as "Spousal Maintenance Income"?

Spousal maintenance income isn't necessarily the same as income for taxes or child support. It generally includes:

• wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, and regular overtime pay
• interest, dividends, pensions, and retirement payouts
• workers' compensation, unemployment, and most disability benefits
• recurring gifts
• self-employment, rental, or business income, minus necessary expenses, and
• child support you receive for a child from a different relationship.

Under the 2025 guidelines, a judge generally won't count retirement account withdrawals as income until they can be taken penalty-free, can count only the account's interest or growth (not the principal) until the account holder reaches full retirement age, and won't count Social Security retirement benefits at all until full retirement age (66-67, depending on your birth year). (Guidelines §§ III.A, III.B.6.)

Can a Judge Count Income You're Not Actually Earning?

A judge can assign income to a spouse who's unemployed or underemployed (called "attributed income"), based on factors like:

• why that spouse isn't working or is working less
• their job history, education, and the local job market
• whether they're in a reasonable job-training program, and
• whether they're retired.

Is There a Minimum Income Requirement for Alimony in Arizona?

Arizona won't award alimony in low-income households. Under the 2025 guidelines, if combined income is 80% of the state minimum wage or less, the calculator automatically produces zero. If the couple's combined income is $44,000 a year or more, the calculator runs normally. If the combined income is between 80% of the state minimum wage and $44,000, a judge can deny the request for maintenance or award only what the paying spouse can actually afford. (Guidelines §§ I.D, V.E.5.)

How Much Alimony Will I Get in Arizona?

Based on the information provided, the spousal maintenance calculator will give two sets of ranges for:

• the amount of spousal maintenance, and
• how long the payments will last.

The judge will decide what's appropriate within each of those ranges. Judges may order that the maintenance payments will decrease gradually over time (what's usually called a "step-down" award), as long as the amounts are within the guideline range. In some cases, however, a judge may order an amount of support that's outside of the range (more on that below).

When Can a Judge Order Maintenance Amounts Outside of the Guidelines?

A judge in Arizona may award an amount of spousal maintenance that's outside the range shown in the calculation, but only if the judge finds that applying the guidelines would be inappropriate or unjust in that particular case. The judge must weigh all statutory and guideline factors. At its core, the analysis involves the judge looking at the marriage itself—how long it lasted and the standard of living it established—and then considering each spouse's individual circumstances, including age, work history, earning capacity, and whether one spouse sacrificed their own income or career so the other spouse could advance theirs. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 25-319(B) (2026); Guidelines § V.)

The calculator already takes into account basic living expenses, such as food, housing, utilities, transportation, clothing, health insurance, and other medical costs. A judge generally won't deviate from the guidelines based on these unless the amount is extraordinary. For costs the calculator doesn't cover at all, a judge has more room to deviate.

One factor the judge may not consider when awarding maintenance is either spouse's misconduct during the marriage (such as adultery), though a judge can consider whether a spouse wasted or hid marital property and whether one spouse was convicted of a crime that victimized the other spouse or a child. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 25-319(B) (2026); Guidelines § V.)

How Long Can Alimony Last in Arizona?

Under Arizona law, judges may award spousal maintenance only for the amount of time that the recipient needs the support in order to become self-sufficient. The calculator results in standard duration ranges, depending on the length of the marriage. Judges may not order support for a shorter or longer time period than shown in the appropriate range, except in certain cases involving long marriages and older spouses. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 25-319(B); Guidelines § V (2026).)

Standard Duration Ranges for Spousal Maintenance

The duration of alimony payments depends on how long a couple was married. And unlike the dollar amount, absent some type of serious hardship or disability, a judge typically can't deviate from these ranges:

• If the marriage lasted less than two years, the maintenance duration range is 3 to 12 months.
• If the marriage lasted at least two but less than five years, then 6 to 36 months.
• If the marriage lasted at least five but less than 10 years, then 6 to 48 months.
• If the marriage lasted at least 10 but less than 16 years, then 12 to 60 months.
• If the marriage lasted at least 16 years, but isn't yet subject to the Rule of 65 (see below), then 12 to 144 months (12 years), or 50% of the length of the marriage, whichever is greater.

(Guidelines §§ IV.B.2.a.)

What Is Arizona's "Rule of 65"?

In certain long marriages, a judge sets duration on a case-by-case basis. The Rule of 65 applies when all of the following are true:

• the marriage lasted at least 16 years
• the spouse asking for support is at least 42 years old, and
• that spouse's age plus years married adds up to 65 or more.

For example, a 45-year-old spouse married 20 years qualifies (45 + 20 = 65). (Guidelines § IVB.2.b.)

Can a Judge Order Alimony for an Indefinite Period?

In some long-marriage cases, including those that qualify for the Rule of 65 or other extraordinary circumstances, a judge doesn't have to set a fixed end date. Instead, the judge can order an "indefinite-term" award that continues until a court ends it.

With a fixed-term award, the spouse receiving support has the burden of proving a substantial and continuing change in circumstances to extend it. With an indefinite-term award, it's the paying spouse who has the burden of proving changed circumstances to end it or set a termination date. Arizona law doesn't recognize "lifetime" alimony, but an indefinite-term award can come close in practice if the paying spouse can't later show changed circumstances. (Guidelines § IV.E.)

When Does Spousal Maintenance Automatically End in Arizona?

No matter what the order says, maintenance ends automatically when either spouse dies or the spouse receiving support remarries. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 25-327(B) (2026).)

Simply moving in with a new partner doesn't automatically end or reduce support, but a judge can modify the award if cohabitation significantly changes the receiving spouse's finances. (Van Dyke v. Steinle, 902 P.2d 1372 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1995).)

Enforcing Alimony in Arizona

Payments usually go through the Arizona Support Payment Clearinghouse unless a judge orders direct payments. A judge can also order the paying spouse's employer to withhold maintenance from each paycheck and must do so when the receiving spouse requests it. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-504, 46-441 (2026).)

If your ex isn't keeping up with the payments, you might have to go back to court to enforce alimony. Among other possible steps, you may file a request for what's known as a money judgment—meaning a judgment requiring your ex to pay the arrearages. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 25-553 (2026).)

But if your ex has the ability to pay and refuses to obey the court's orders, you may have to file a motion asking the judge to find your ex in contempt. This process can get complicated, so it might be worth talking to a family law attorney.

Modifying Spousal Maintenance in Arizona

After the divorce is final, either spouse may go back to court to request a change in the spousal maintenance order, unless their settlement agreement and original order ruled out any future modifications. The requesting spouse must show that there's been a substantial and continuing change in circumstances since the order was issued. (Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 25-319(E), 25-327(A) (2026).)

Some examples of changes that might warrant a modification include:

• the paying spouse's retirement
• a significant change in either spouse's income that isn't temporary or voluntary (without a good reason), or
• a change in the availability of health insurance coverage.

As noted earlier, living with a new partner doesn't automatically justify a modification unless it causes a substantial change in the recipient's economic circumstances.

The changed-circumstances requirement applies to all modification requests, regardless of when the spouses started their original divorce. Beyond that, however, the rules for modifying maintenance orders are different, depending on whether the Guidelines apply. (Guidelines, § VII.D.)

When the Spousal Maintenance Guidelines Don't Apply to Modification Requests

If the original dissolution petition was filed before September 24, 2022, the Guidelines don't apply to a modification request and can't be used to establish changed circumstances. If a spouse establishes changed circumstances some other way, the judge may, but isn't required to, consult the Guidelines to help set the amount of a modified award. (Guidelines § VII.D.2.)

When the Guidelines Apply to Modification Requests

The Guidelines apply to a modification request if the original dissolution petition in the case was filed on or after September 24, 2022. In these cases, a spouse can meet the changed-circumstances requirement simply by showing that a new Guidelines calculation, based on current finances, would produce a different result. (Guidelines § VII.D.1.)

If a spouse is asking to extend maintenance beyond its original date, the new end date generally can't exceed the maximum of the standard duration range, unless a disability or other extraordinary circumstances arose after the original order. (Guidelines § VII.A.)

Taxes and Alimony

For divorces finalized after December 31, 2018, the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has eliminated the alimony tax deduction or reporting requirement: the IRS doesn't count these payments as income for the recipient, and the paying spouse gets no deduction. If your divorce was finalized before December 31, 2018, the old rules still apply—spousal maintenance payments remain tax deductible to the payer and taxable income to the recipient.

Learn more about alimony and tax rules.