Alimony (spousal support) in Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts, how courts calculate amounts, duration guidelines, modification rules, and the impact of remarriage, cohabitation, and retirement on support obligations. Understanding Massachusetts’s alimony laws helps both paying and receiving spouses plan their financial futures.
Verified against Massachusetts family law statutes as of May 2026.
In This Massachusetts Alimony Guide:
Types of Alimony in Massachusetts
Massachusetts courts may award the following types of alimony:
- General Term Alimony (periodic support for economically dependent spouse
- subject to durational limits); Rehabilitative Alimony (periodic support until recipient becomes self-sufficient
- max 5 years); Reimbursement Alimony (periodic or lump-sum payment after marriage of 5 years or less
- compensates for contributions to payor’s financial resources such as paying for education); Transitional Alimony (periodic or lump-sum payment after marriage of 5 years or less
- helps recipient transition to adjusted lifestyle
- max 3 years)
How Massachusetts Calculates Alimony
Massachusetts uses a guideline formula for calculating alimony: Alimony should generally not exceed the lesser of the recipient’s need or 30% to 35% of the difference between the parties’ gross incomes at the time of the order. Income is defined per the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines. Courts shall exclude capital gains income and dividend/interest income from assets already equitably divided. Courts shall also exclude gross income already considered for a child support order. Courts may impute income to a party who is unemployed or underemployed. When both alimony and child support are at issue, judges must calculate support two ways (alimony first and child support first) and compare after-tax outcomes per Cavanagh v. Cavanagh (2022 SJC decision).
Massachusetts courts consider these factors when determining alimony:
- (1) Length of the marriage; (2) Age of the parties; (3) Health of the parties; (4) Income
- employment
- and employability of both parties including employability through reasonable diligence and additional training; (5) Economic and non-economic contribution of both parties to the marriage; (6) Marital lifestyle; (7) Ability of each party to maintain the marital lifestyle; (8) Lost economic opportunity as a result of the marriage; (9) Such other factors as the court considers relevant and material. Additional considerations include inability to self-support due to physical or mental abuse by the payor
- deficiency of property or employment opportunity
- significant premarital cohabitation involving economic partnership (can increase effective marriage length)
- and marital separation of significant duration (can decrease effective marriage length).
Income disparity: YES. Alimony is defined as payment from a spouse who has the ability to pay to a spouse in need of support. The formula caps alimony at the lesser of the recipient’s need or 30-35% of the gross income difference, inherently requiring income disparity. The recipient must demonstrate economic dependence.
Vocational evaluation: YES. The court considers employability through reasonable diligence and additional training if necessary as a statutory factor. Courts may impute income to an unemployed or underemployed party, which often involves vocational evaluation to assess earning capacity.
Massachusetts Alimony Duration Guidelines
Yes. General term alimony has durational caps tied to marriage length: marriages of 5 years or less, alimony up to 50% of months of marriage; more than 5 up to 10 years, up to 60% of months; more than 10 up to 15 years, up to 70% of months; more than 15 up to 20 years, up to 80% of months; more than 20 years, indefinite duration at court discretion up to payor’s full retirement age. Courts may deviate only upon written finding that deviation is required in the interests of justice. Rehabilitative alimony capped at 5 years. Transitional alimony capped at 3 years.
| Marriage Length | Typical Alimony Duration |
|---|---|
| Short-term (under 5 years or less (eligible for reimbursement alimony, transitional alimony, or general term alimony capped at 50% of marriage duration)) | Rehabilitative or bridge-the-gap; limited duration |
| Moderate-term | Durational alimony; set period based on marriage length |
| Long-term (More than 20 years (eligible for indefinite general term alimony at court discretion, up to payor reaching full retirement age)+) | May qualify for permanent or indefinite alimony |
Permanent alimony: NO in the traditional sense. Massachusetts eliminated traditional permanent alimony with the Alimony Reform Act of 2011. For marriages over 20 years, the court may award indefinite general term alimony, but it still terminates upon the payor reaching full Social Security retirement age (currently 67 for most people), remarriage of the recipient, death of either party, or cohabitation by the recipient. The court may deviate from retirement-age termination only upon written findings in the interests of justice.
Modifying & Terminating Massachusetts Alimony
Modification: YES for general term alimony upon a material change of circumstances — may be modified in both duration and amount. Income from a second job or overtime begun after the initial order is presumed immaterial to modification. Rehabilitative alimony may be extended only upon compelling circumstances showing unforeseen events prevented self-sufficiency, recipient tried to become self-supporting, and payor can pay without undue burden. Reimbursement alimony and transitional alimony are NOT modifiable after entry of the order.
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Cohabitation: General term alimony shall be suspended, reduced, or terminated upon the recipient maintaining a common household with another person for a continuous period of at least 3 months. Factors courts consider include oral or written statements to third parties about the relationship, economic interdependence, conduct and collaborative roles in furtherance of life together, benefit to either person from the relationship, and community reputation as a couple. The payor bears the burden of proving cohabitation.
Remarriage: Recipient’s remarriage automatically terminates general term alimony. Payor’s remarriage does not affect the obligation, and the income and assets of the payor’s new spouse shall not be considered in any modification action.
Retirement: General term alimony orders terminate upon the payor reaching full retirement age as defined by the Social Security Act (currently age 67 for most people). The court may deviate from this default only upon written findings that deviation is required in the interests of justice. The passage of the Alimony Reform Act itself is not a material change for modifying the amount of existing orders, but existing orders exceeding durational limits are deemed a material change warranting modification of duration.
Tax Implications of Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts Alimony
Adultery: The court shall NOT consider adultery in determining alimony. MGL c.208 Section 53(e) explicitly prohibits consideration of marital misconduct including adultery when determining alimony form, amount, or duration. However, adultery may affect property division under MGL c.208 Section 34, particularly if the unfaithful spouse dissipated marital assets through spending on an affair partner.
Other marital misconduct: The court shall NOT consider marital misconduct in determining alimony per MGL c.208 Section 53(e). This was a deliberate policy choice in the 2011 Alimony Reform Act. Marital misconduct may still be considered in equitable property division under Section 34.
Additional Massachusetts rules: (1) The 2011 Alimony Reform Act was a landmark overhaul that replaced Massachusetts’s prior system of indefinite alimony with durational limits and a formula — one of the most significant alimony reforms in any US state. (2) Length of marriage is measured from date of legal marriage to date of service of divorce complaint, but courts may extend the effective length if the economic partnership began during premarital cohabitation, or reduce it for significant periods of marital separation. (3) The court may require the payor to maintain life insurance or other reasonable security to protect alimony payments in the event of death during the alimony period per Section 55. (4) Per Openshaw v. Openshaw (2024), if a couple had a regular habit of saving money during the marriage, the recipient’s ability to continue saving can be considered as part of need — expanding the definition of need beyond covering expenses. (5) Reimbursement and transitional alimony are only available for marriages of 5 years or less. (6) Pre-2012 alimony orders are subject to modification to conform to durational limits but require a modification proceeding — the new limits do not apply automatically to old orders.
Official Sources & Resources
- Cornell LII — Alimony: law.cornell.edu
- NCSL Spousal Support: ncsl.org
- Massachusetts Alimony Statute: Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 208, Sections 48 through 55 (MGL c.208 §§48-55), enacted by the Alimony Reform Act of 2011 (Chapter 124 of the Acts of 2011), effective March 1 2012
Last verified May 2026. Contact us if you notice outdated information.