Alimony (spousal support) in Vermont 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 Vermont, how courts calculate amounts, duration guidelines, modification rules, and the impact of remarriage, cohabitation, and retirement on support obligations. Understanding Vermont’s alimony laws helps both paying and receiving spouses plan their financial futures.
Verified against Vermont family law statutes as of May 2026.
In This Vermont Alimony Guide:
Types of Alimony in Vermont
Vermont courts may award the following types of alimony:
- Vermont recognizes two types of spousal maintenance: (1) Rehabilitative maintenance — short-term support to allow the recipient time to acquire education
- training
- or employment skills to become self-supporting; and (2) Permanent (long-term) maintenance — ongoing support reserved for cases where a spouse cannot become self-supporting due to age
- disability
- lengthy absence from the job market
- or significant income disparity. Vermont does not use the terms “bridge-the-gap
- ” “durational
- ” or “reimbursement” as separate statutory categories.
How Vermont Calculates Alimony
Vermont does not have a fixed formula for calculating alimony. Courts use judicial discretion, weighing multiple factors to determine a fair amount and duration.
Vermont courts consider these factors when determining alimony:
- Under 15 V.S.A. § 752(b)
- the court considers all relevant factors including: (1) The financial resources of the party seeking maintenance
- including property apportioned to the party
- the party’s ability to meet needs independently
- and the extent to which child support provisions include a sum for that party as custodian; (2) The time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment; (3) The standard of living established during the civil marriage; (4) The duration of the civil marriage; (5) The age and the physical and emotional condition of each spouse; (6) The ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet his or her reasonable needs while meeting those of the spouse seeking maintenance; (7) Inflation with relation to the cost of living.
Income disparity: YES. Under 15 V.S.A. § 752(a), the spouse seeking maintenance must demonstrate two threshold requirements: (1) the spouse lacks sufficient income or property (including property apportioned in the divorce) to provide for reasonable needs; AND (2) the spouse is unable to support himself or herself through appropriate employment at the standard of living established during the marriage, OR is the custodian of a child of the parties. Both financial need and inability to self-support must be shown.
Vocational evaluation: Vermont courts may use vocational evaluations to assess a spouse’s earning capacity. Courts focus on what a spouse can earn, not just current income. A vocational expert may determine earning capacity or develop a plan for increasing it, and judges may impute a higher income based on vocational evaluation findings. The court specifically considers “the time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find appropriate employment” (§ 752(b)(2)).
Vermont Alimony Duration Guidelines
Vermont has no statutory duration guidelines or formula. Duration is left to judicial discretion based on the factors in § 752(b). An informal rule of thumb used by some practitioners is one year of maintenance for every three years of marriage (approximately one-third of the marriage length), but this is not codified or binding. There are no statutory short/medium/long marriage thresholds.
| Marriage Length | Typical Alimony Duration |
|---|---|
| Short-term (under UNVERIFIED — Vermont does not define a short marriage threshold by statute for alimony purposes.) | Rehabilitative or bridge-the-gap; limited duration |
| Moderate-term | Durational alimony; set period based on marriage length |
| Long-term (UNVERIFIED — Vermont does not define a long-term marriage threshold by statute. Permanent maintenance is awarded based on individual circumstances (age, disability, inability to become self-supporting) rather than a specific year threshold.+) | May qualify for permanent or indefinite alimony |
Permanent alimony: YES. Vermont courts may award permanent (long-term) maintenance, though it is relatively rare. It is typically reserved for cases where the recipient spouse cannot work due to age or disability, has experienced a lengthy absence from the job market (e.g., stay-at-home parent), there is a significant and likely permanent income disparity, or other extenuating circumstances make self-sufficiency unrealistic.
Modifying & Terminating Vermont Alimony
Modification: YES. Under 15 V.S.A. § 758, either party may petition to modify a maintenance order upon a showing of a real, substantial, and unanticipated change of circumstances. Examples include: significant increase or decrease in either party’s income, job loss, health changes, disability, remarriage, or cohabitation. The burden of proof rests on the party seeking modification. Without the required showing of changed circumstances, the court lacks jurisdiction to modify the order.
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Cohabitation: Cohabitation does NOT automatically terminate spousal maintenance in Vermont. Vermont is notably unique among states in this regard. If the recipient spouse cohabitates with a partner in a marriage-like relationship, the paying spouse may petition the court for modification or termination, but must demonstrate that the cohabitation constitutes a real, substantial, and unanticipated change of circumstances that significantly improves the recipient’s financial situation. The court evaluates whether the cohabitation has actually changed the recipient’s financial need.
Remarriage: Remarriage does NOT automatically terminate spousal maintenance in Vermont. This is unique compared to most states. The paying spouse may petition for a review and modification or termination of maintenance upon the recipient’s remarriage, but the court will only modify or end maintenance if the remarriage significantly improves the recipient spouse’s financial circumstances. If the original order already anticipated remarriage, the court may find it is not an unanticipated change of circumstances.
Retirement: Vermont courts consider retirement as part of the statutory factors, including the age and physical condition of each spouse (factor 5) and ability to meet reasonable needs (factor 6). The payor’s expected working years before retirement and Social Security eligibility of both spouses are relevant considerations. A payor’s retirement may constitute a real, substantial, and unanticipated change of circumstances warranting modification under § 758, particularly if retirement significantly reduces the payor’s income.
Tax Implications of Vermont 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 Vermont 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 Vermont Alimony
Adultery: Adultery does NOT affect alimony awards in Vermont. Vermont courts do not consider marital fault when determining spousal maintenance. The purpose of maintenance is to address financial disparity, not to punish behavior. Limited exception: if the adulterous spouse spent significant marital funds on an extramarital partner, the court may account for that dissipation of marital assets in property division (not maintenance).
Other marital misconduct: Marital misconduct generally does NOT affect spousal maintenance awards in Vermont. Courts focus on economic factors rather than fault. However, economic misconduct — such as wasteful or fraudulent spending of marital assets — may affect property division. Vermont permits both fault-based and no-fault divorce grounds, but the fault grounds (adultery, intolerable severity, desertion, etc.) do not translate into enhanced or reduced maintenance awards.
Additional Vermont rules: (1) Vermont is notably unique in that neither remarriage nor cohabitation of the recipient automatically terminates maintenance — most states have automatic termination upon remarriage. (2) Vermont uses the term “maintenance” rather than “alimony” in its statutes. (3) Maintenance is gender-neutral — either spouse may seek it. (4) There are no statutory caps on amount or duration. (5) A Spousal Support and Maintenance Task Force (S.244) was created to study potential alimony reform and develop guidelines, but as of 2026 no comprehensive formula or guideline legislation has been enacted. (6) Vermont allows both rehabilitative and permanent maintenance to be combined in a single order. (7) Maintenance terminates upon the death of either party unless the order specifies otherwise.
Official Sources & Resources
- Cornell LII — Alimony: law.cornell.edu
- NCSL Spousal Support: ncsl.org
- Vermont Alimony Statute: 15 V.S.A. § 752 (Maintenance — eligibility and factors); 15 V.S.A. § 758 (Modification of maintenance orders). These are found in Title 15, Chapter 11 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated (Domestic Relations — Annulment, Divorce and Separation).
Last verified May 2026. Contact us if you notice outdated information.