Alimony (spousal support) in Indiana is designed to help a lower-earning spouse maintain a reasonable standard of living after divorce. This comprehensive guide covers the types of alimony available in Indiana, how courts calculate amounts, duration guidelines, modification rules, and the impact of remarriage, cohabitation, and retirement on support obligations. Understanding Indiana’s alimony laws helps both paying and receiving spouses plan their financial futures.
Verified against Indiana family law statutes as of May 2026.
In This Indiana Alimony Guide:
Types of Alimony in Indiana
Indiana courts may award the following types of alimony:
- Indiana recognizes three narrow types of spousal maintenance under IC § 31-15-7-2: (1) Incapacity maintenance — for a spouse who is physically or mentally incapacitated to the extent that self-support ability is materially affected; continues indefinitely subject to further court order. (2) Caregiver maintenance — for a spouse who is custodian of a child whose physical or mental incapacity requires the custodian to forgo employment; continues as long as the caregiving need exists. (3) Rehabilitative maintenance — for a spouse who lacks sufficient property and needs time to acquire education or training to become self-supporting; capped at 3 years from date of final decree. Indiana does NOT recognize traditional alimony categories like bridge-the-gap
- durational
- or reimbursement alimony. Indiana is one of the most restrictive states in the nation for spousal support.
How Indiana Calculates Alimony
Indiana does not have a fixed formula for calculating alimony. Courts use judicial discretion, weighing multiple factors to determine a fair amount and duration.
Indiana courts consider these factors when determining alimony:
- For rehabilitative maintenance under IC § 31-15-7-2(3)
- courts consider: (1) educational level of each spouse at the time of marriage and at the time the dissolution action is commenced; (2) whether an interruption in education
- training
- or employment occurred during the marriage as a result of homemaking or child care responsibilities; (3) the earning capacity of each spouse
- including educational background
- training
- employment skills
- work experience
- and length of presence in or absence from the job market; (4) the time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the spouse to find appropriate employment. For all types
- courts also consider: the financial resources of the requesting spouse including marital property apportioned to that spouse
- the standard of living established during the marriage
- the duration of the marriage
- and the ability of the paying spouse to meet their own needs while paying maintenance.
Income disparity: YES. Indiana requires the requesting spouse to demonstrate financial need — specifically that they lack sufficient property, including marital property apportioned to them, to provide for their needs, AND that they meet one of the three qualifying conditions (incapacity, caregiving for incapacitated child, or need for rehabilitative education/training). A simple income gap between spouses is not sufficient; the requesting spouse must show inability to self-support.
Vocational evaluation: Indiana courts may order or consider vocational evaluations to assess a spouse’s earning capacity, particularly in rehabilitative maintenance cases. The statute directs courts to examine earning capacity including educational background, training, employment skills, work experience, and length of absence from the job market. Vocational experts may be retained to provide realistic estimates of potential post-divorce earnings, but there is no statutory mandate requiring vocational evaluations in every case.
Indiana Alimony Duration Guidelines
Indiana does NOT have duration guidelines based on length of marriage. Rehabilitative maintenance is statutorily capped at a maximum of 3 years (36 months) from the date of the final divorce decree regardless of marriage length. Incapacity maintenance and caregiver maintenance have no fixed end date and continue indefinitely subject to further court order. Indiana abolished permanent/traditional alimony in 1973 and does not use short/medium/long marriage tiers to determine duration.
| Marriage Length | Typical Alimony Duration |
|---|---|
| Short-term (under UNVERIFIED — Indiana does not use marriage-length thresholds to determine maintenance eligibility or duration.) | Rehabilitative or bridge-the-gap; limited duration |
| Moderate-term | Durational alimony; set period based on marriage length |
| Long-term (UNVERIFIED — Indiana does not recognize a long-term marriage threshold qualifying for permanent alimony. Indiana abolished permanent alimony in 1973.+) | May qualify for permanent or indefinite alimony |
Permanent alimony: NO — Indiana eliminated permanent/lifetime alimony in 1973. The closest equivalent is incapacity maintenance, which can continue indefinitely but is based on the recipient’s physical or mental incapacitation rather than marriage duration, and remains subject to further court review and modification. Rehabilitative maintenance is capped at 3 years.
Modifying & Terminating Indiana Alimony
Modification: YES. Under IC § 31-15-7-3, maintenance orders may be modified or revoked only upon a showing of changed circumstances so substantial and continuing as to make the terms unreasonable. Common grounds include: significant increase or decrease in either party’s income, job loss, retirement, serious illness or recovery from disability, or the recipient completing education and obtaining employment earlier than anticipated. Either party may petition for modification.
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Cohabitation: Cohabitation by the recipient spouse with a new partner may reduce or terminate maintenance but is NOT an automatic cutoff. The paying spouse must file a modification petition under IC § 31-15-7-3 and demonstrate that the cohabitation constitutes a substantial and continuing change in circumstances — specifically that the new partner provides economic support reducing the recipient’s financial need. Courts examine shared expenses, pooled resources, and the degree of financial interdependence. Some divorce decrees include specific cohabitation clauses that may provide for automatic reduction or termination.
Remarriage: Remarriage of the recipient spouse generally terminates maintenance payments automatically under Indiana case law, unless the divorce decree or settlement agreement specifically provides otherwise.
Retirement: The payor’s retirement may constitute a substantial and continuing change in circumstances sufficient to petition for modification or termination of maintenance under IC § 31-15-7-3. The court will evaluate whether the retirement was voluntary or involuntary, the payor’s post-retirement income and assets, and whether the retirement was taken in good faith rather than to avoid maintenance obligations.
Tax Implications of Indiana Alimony
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017), for divorce agreements executed after December 31, 2018, alimony payments are not deductible by the paying spouse and not taxable income for the receiving spouse at the federal level. This applies to all Indiana divorces finalized after that date.
For divorces finalized before 2019, the old rules still apply unless the agreement is modified to adopt the new tax treatment.
Impact of Misconduct on Indiana Alimony
Adultery: Indiana is a no-fault divorce state, and adultery is not a statutory ground for divorce. However, courts have discretion to consider marital misconduct, including adultery, when making maintenance determinations. The Indiana Supreme Court has held that judges may consider marital misconduct in alimony decisions. Additionally, if adultery led to dissipation of marital assets (spending marital funds on an extramarital relationship), courts may consider this under IC § 31-15-7-4 when dividing property. The practical impact on maintenance itself is limited and fact-dependent.
Other marital misconduct: Indiana’s maintenance statute (IC § 31-15-7-2) does not list marital misconduct as a specific factor, but courts retain some discretion to consider it. More significantly, misconduct that involves dissipation of marital assets — such as gambling, substance abuse, or spending on extramarital affairs — can affect property division under IC § 31-15-7-5, which directs courts to consider “the conduct of the parties during the marriage as related to the disposition or dissipation of their property.” This indirectly affects the financial picture considered in maintenance decisions.
Additional Indiana rules: Indiana is among the most restrictive states in the nation for spousal support. The state abolished traditional alimony in 1973 and replaced it with the narrow “maintenance” framework. There is no presumption of maintenance in any divorce case regardless of marriage length. Indiana uses the term “maintenance” rather than “alimony” in its statutes. Courts cannot award maintenance outside the three statutory categories. The 3-year cap on rehabilitative maintenance is a hard statutory limit. Parties may agree to maintenance terms in a settlement agreement that differ from what the court could order, but the court must approve such agreements. Indiana does not have any pending legislative reforms to expand maintenance availability as of 2026.
Official Sources & Resources
- Cornell LII — Alimony: law.cornell.edu
- NCSL Spousal Support: ncsl.org
- Indiana Alimony Statute: Indiana Code § 31-15-7-2 (Findings Concerning Maintenance); IC § 31-15-7-3 (Modification or Revocation of Order for Maintenance); IC § 31-15-7-4 and IC § 31-15-7-5 (Property Disposition and Factors including dissipation of assets)
Last verified May 2026. Contact us if you notice outdated information.