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Washington Spousal Maintenance Estimator

Washington has no alimony formula. Here is the range practitioners actually work from.

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How Washington Courts Decide Maintenance

RCW 26.09.090

Washington’s statute is short and deliberately flexible. The court may order maintenance for either spouse in such amounts and for such periods of time as it deems just, without regard to misconduct, after considering the financial resources of the spouse seeking it, the time needed to acquire education or training for appropriate employment, the standard of living during the marriage, the length of the marriage, the age and physical and emotional condition and financial obligations of the spouse seeking maintenance, and the ability of the other spouse to pay while meeting their own needs. Washington’s Supreme Court reaffirmed in 2024 that the list of factors is not exclusive and that trial courts have broad discretion.

There is no formula, no table and no county-wide schedule. What there is, after decades of cases, is a set of informal benchmarks that Eastside attorneys and judges use as starting points. This estimator shows those benchmarks as ranges so you can plan around a realistic outcome rather than a single number nobody can promise.

The informal rules of thumb, and their limits

For marriages of roughly five to twenty-five years, practitioners commonly expect about one year of maintenance for every three to four years of marriage. Under five years, courts usually try to return each spouse to the financial position they had before the marriage, so maintenance is short or absent. Past twenty-five years, courts often aim to leave the two households in roughly equal positions, sometimes until retirement. Amounts are even less formulaic: temporary orders often land between twenty and forty percent of the gap between the spouses’ net incomes, and the longer the marriage, the closer the number moves toward equalizing the two incomes. Property division interacts with all of it, because a spouse who receives more of the estate usually has less need.

NWF Calculator: Spousal Maintenance

Washington has no maintenance formula. Judges weigh the factors in RCW 26.09.090 and set what they consider just. This estimator shows the informal ranges Eastside practitioners work from for duration and amount, so you have a realistic starting point rather than a false precise number. It updates as you type. No contact details are needed to see it.

Want to know where your case really lands?

Maintenance is the most judgment-driven number in a Washington divorce. Enter your details and we will talk through the factors that move it in a consultation. Confidential. No obligation.

Why Your Real Number May Differ

Where estimates meet reality

  • The factors are weighed together and no single one controls, which is why two judges can reach different numbers on the same facts.

  • The property division comes first in practice. A spouse who keeps the house, the retirement accounts or income-producing property usually has less need, and the court can award a larger share of property instead of longer maintenance.

  • Either spouse may be found voluntarily unemployed or underemployed, in which case potential rather than actual income drives the analysis.

  • Temporary maintenance while the case is pending is set on a quicker, need-and-ability-to-pay basis and can differ from the final award.

  • Maintenance ordered after 2018 is neither deductible to the payer nor taxable to the recipient under federal law, and Washington has no income tax, so the numbers are after-tax dollars on both sides.

  • Unless the parties agree otherwise in writing, maintenance ends on the death of either spouse or the remarriage of the recipient, and it can be modified on a substantial change of circumstances under RCW 26.09.170.

Frequently Asked Questions

Spousal maintenance estimator

How is alimony calculated in Washington?

It is not calculated by formula. The court weighs the factors in RCW 26.09.090 and orders what it considers just. In practice, attorneys negotiate around informal benchmarks: a duration of roughly one year for every three to four years of marriage for mid-length marriages, and an amount that often falls between twenty and forty percent of the gap between the spouses’ net incomes, moving toward equalization in long marriages.

How long does spousal maintenance last in Washington?

Marriages under five years rarely produce more than a brief transition. For five to twenty-five years, the common benchmark is one year of maintenance for every three to four years married. After twenty-five years, long-term maintenance that continues until retirement, death or remarriage is a realistic possibility.

Is maintenance taxable in Washington?

For orders entered on or after January 1, 2019, maintenance is not deductible to the payer and not taxable to the recipient under federal law. Washington has no state income tax, so the ordered amount is the after-tax amount.

Does cheating affect alimony in Washington?

No. RCW 26.09.090 directs the court to set maintenance without regard to misconduct. The same is true of property division. It is one of the most common misconceptions clients arrive with.

Can maintenance be modified?

Unless the decree makes it non-modifiable, maintenance can be modified on a substantial change of circumstances. It ends automatically on the death of either party or the recipient’s remarriage or registration of a new domestic partnership unless the decree or a written agreement says otherwise.

Ready to talk through your numbers?

An estimate is a starting point. A conversation with a Washington family law attorney is where it becomes a plan. Every conversation is confidential.

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