Alimony, spousal support and spousal maintenance commonly describe financial support between partners, but the legal rights and calculation methods depend on location, relationship type, and the stage of a case.
What do these words mean?
Alimony is widely used in the United States. Spousal support is also common in the United States and Canada. Spousal maintenance is the usual expression in Australia and England and Wales. Ireland often refers to maintenance, while New Zealand uses partner or spousal maintenance terminology.
The terminology does not determine entitlement or the amount. Child support is a different obligation and may affect the amount available for spousal support.
How do the rules differ?
- Australia: the courts assess need, ability to pay, care of children and other statutory factors, without a universal percentage formula.
- United States: the rules differ by state. California often uses a temporary support illustration, while New York publishes statutory maintenance guidelines.
- Canada: advisory guidelines offer ranges where spousal support entitlement is established. Cases involving dependent children use a different, more complex calculation.
- United Kingdom: England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have different legal frameworks.
- New Zealand and Ireland: maintenance is assessed on relevant needs, means and statutory circumstances rather than one universal formula.
How do children affect support?
Children's ages, additional care needs, overnight arrangements, childcare costs and a parent's capacity for paid work may affect a maintenance assessment. In Canada, the youngest child's schooling stage can also matter to the advisory duration range. This does not mean the child’s age adds a fixed amount to maintenance.
Try the location-specific calculator
Our free international alimony and spousal maintenance calculator explains what it can estimate, what it cannot, and the exact calculations used for each supported method. Financial scenarios are not court predictions.