Kansas Spousal Maintenance (Alimony) Laws: How It Works (2026)

Kansas does not use the word "alimony" in its statutes. Court-ordered post-divorce spousal support is called maintenance, and it is governed primarily by K.S.A. 23-2902, 23-2903, and 23-2904. There is no statewide formula. A judge determines whether to award maintenance, how much to award, and for how long, based entirely on the facts of the case.

Information last verified on June 1, 2026.

Estimate your situation: Try our free Kansas alimony calculator to estimate spousal support and see the factors a Kansas court weighs.

What Is Maintenance in Kansas?

Maintenance is a court order requiring one spouse to make regular payments to the other after a divorce or legal separation. It is the Kansas equivalent of what most states call alimony or spousal support.

Kansas courts may award maintenance to either spouse. The statute does not favor one gender over the other. The goal is to address economic disparity between the spouses when one party cannot reasonably meet their needs after the marriage ends.

Under K.S.A. 23-2902(a), the court may award maintenance "in an amount the court finds to be fair, just and equitable under all of the circumstances." Under K.S.A. 23-2902(b), payments may take any form the court considers appropriate: a lump sum, periodic payments, a percentage of earnings, or any other basis. The original decree may also make payments modifiable or terminable on conditions the court specifies (K.S.A. 23-2902(c)).

The 121-Month Statutory Cap and Renewal

One of the most distinctive features of Kansas maintenance law is a hard statutory ceiling on duration.

The 121-Month Limit

Under K.S.A. 23-2904, a court may not award maintenance for a period exceeding 121 months in any single order. That works out to just over ten years. This cap applies both to the original decree and to any subsequent modification or reinstatement order; no single period may exceed 121 months.

A spousal maintenance award that exceeds 121 months is void as a matter of law under Kansas case law, not merely voidable. Courts lack the authority to order a longer period even by agreement of the parties in an open-court proceeding, though parties may negotiate longer terms in a private settlement agreement that the court incorporates by reference without direct judicial order.

Reinstatement After the Cap

The statute also creates a reinstatement mechanism. If the original decree expressly reserves the court's power to reinstate maintenance, the recipient may file a motion before the current period expires and ask the court to continue payments. The court may reinstate payments in whole or in part, for another period of up to 121 months, conditioned on whatever circumstances the court prescribes.

Importantly, a recipient may file subsequent reinstatement motions before each successive period expires. This means maintenance can, in theory, continue in rolling 121-month increments indefinitely, but only if the original decree reserved that authority and the recipient acts before each period ends. A recipient who fails to file before the period expires loses the right to reinstatement.

Retroactive Modifications

K.S.A. 23-2904 also permits a court to make a modification of maintenance retroactive, but only to a date at least one month after the motion to modify was filed. Modifications cannot reach back further than that.

How Courts Decide the Amount

Kansas gives courts wide discretion on the amount of maintenance. There is no mathematical formula in the statutes. Instead, the "fair, just and equitable" standard of K.S.A. 23-2902(a) directs the judge to weigh the totality of the circumstances.

Kansas appellate courts have identified factors that are relevant to the analysis, including:

• Each spouse's earning capacity and financial resources. A spouse with strong earning potential or substantial assets will receive less, or no, maintenance. The requesting spouse's ability to meet their own needs is central.
• The length of the marriage. Longer marriages generally support larger and longer awards. A spouse who spent many years out of the workforce supporting the family faces a steeper path to self-sufficiency.
• The age and health of both parties. A spouse who is older or has health conditions limiting employment prospects is more likely to receive a significant award than a younger, healthy spouse.
• The marital standard of living. Courts look at the lifestyle the couple shared as a reference point for "reasonable needs."
• Contributions to the marriage. Non-financial contributions such as raising children, supporting a spouse's career, are all relevant to the analysis.
• Each spouse's current income and the disparity between them. A large income gap between the spouses is often a key driver of maintenance awards.

Local Court Guidelines Are Non-Binding

Several Kansas judicial districts, including Johnson County's 18th Judicial District, have historically circulated informal guidelines suggesting a formula, for example, a percentage of the difference in the spouses' monthly gross incomes with a duration based on marriage length. These are local customs or administrative aids, not statutes and not binding rules. A judge in Johnson County or anywhere else is free to depart from any local guideline. Do not treat any local guideline as a statewide formula or as a floor or ceiling on what a court must award.

If you are in a specific judicial district, a local family law attorney can tell you whether informal guidelines exist and how much weight that court tends to give them in practice.

When Maintenance Ends or Changes

Automatic Termination

Maintenance terminates upon the death of either party or the remarriage of the recipient spouse. Kansas courts treat these as default termination events even though K.S.A. 23-2902 through 23-2905 do not enumerate them explicitly; a decree may expressly provide otherwise.

Cohabitation

Kansas statutes do not list cohabitation as an automatic termination event. However, the original decree may include a cohabitation clause that suspends or terminates payments if the recipient lives with a new partner. If no such clause exists, the paying spouse would need to petition the court for a modification and show a substantial change in circumstances.

Modification

Under K.S.A. 23-2903, a court may modify the amount or conditions of maintenance for any portion that has not yet become due. There is an important asymmetry: a court may reduce payments without the paying spouse's consent, but it may not increase or accelerate the total liability beyond what was set in the original decree without the consent of the party obligated to pay.

Either party may file a motion to modify. Courts generally require a showing of changed circumstances to justify modification, though the Kansas statute does not codify a specific "substantial and continuing" standard the way some other states do.

Non-Modifiable Awards

A decree can designate a maintenance provision as non-modifiable. If it does, the court loses jurisdiction to change that provision even if circumstances change substantially.

Is Kansas Maintenance Taxable?

Federal tax law changed significantly for divorces finalized after 2018. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act:

• For any divorce or separation agreement executed after December 31, 2018, maintenance payments are not deductible by the payer and are not taxable income to the recipient.
• For agreements executed on or before December 31, 2018, the old rules still apply: payments are deductible to the payer and taxable income to the recipient, as long as the agreement has not been modified to adopt the new rules.

This means that for most divorces being finalized today, maintenance has no direct federal income-tax consequences for either spouse. Both parties should consult a tax professional to understand the impact on their specific situation. For the authoritative IRS guidance, see IRS Topic No. 452.

How Maintenance Differs from Kansas Child Support

Maintenance and child support are separate legal obligations that are determined independently.

Kansas child support is calculated using the Kansas Child Support Guidelines, which produce a specific dollar figure based on both parents' incomes, overnights, and the number of children. Child support is mandatory when a court establishes custody. It is owed for the benefit of the children.

Maintenance, by contrast, is discretionary, has no formula, and is owed to the former spouse. Child support ends when the child reaches the age of majority (generally 18 in Kansas); maintenance ends on the date the decree specifies, or earlier upon death or remarriage.

The two obligations are calculated separately. A maintenance award does not offset or eliminate a child support obligation.

The Broader Picture

For a state-by-state comparison of how spousal support works across the country, see Alimony Laws by State.

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Disclaimer: This page provides general legal information about Kansas maintenance law, not legal advice. Maintenance cases are highly fact-specific, and outcomes depend on the particular circumstances, the applicable law, and the judge's discretion. Consult a licensed Kansas family law attorney for guidance on your situation.

Last updated: June 1, 2026.

More Kansas Laws

• Kansas Divorce Laws
• Kansas Child Custody Laws