Missouri Maintenance (Alimony) Laws: How It Works (2026)

Missouri calls spousal support "maintenance" rather than alimony. Under Mo. Rev. Stat. 452.335, courts have full discretion to award maintenance in any amount and for any duration they find just. There is no statutory formula, no presumptive guideline, and no automatic entitlement based on the length of the marriage.

Information last verified on June 1, 2026.

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

What Is Maintenance in Missouri?

Missouri dissolved the term "alimony" from its statutes in 1973 when the state adopted a no-fault divorce framework. The word used today is "maintenance," and it refers to court-ordered financial support paid by one spouse to the other after a marriage ends.

Either spouse can seek maintenance, regardless of gender. The purpose of maintenance is not to punish the paying spouse or reward the recipient. Missouri courts look at whether one spouse genuinely cannot meet their own reasonable needs after the property division and whether the other spouse has the financial capacity to help.

Maintenance is available as temporary support during the divorce proceeding (pendente lite) and as a post-divorce award. A court can also approve maintenance set by a separation agreement if it finds the agreement is not unconscionable.

The Two-Part Threshold Test

Before a Missouri court can award maintenance at all, the spouse requesting it must satisfy both parts of a threshold test under Mo. Rev. Stat. 452.335(1).

Part one requires the requesting spouse to show that they lack sufficient property, including any marital property apportioned to them in the divorce, to provide for their reasonable needs. A spouse who receives substantial assets in the property division may not clear this hurdle even if they earned little during the marriage.

Part two requires the requesting spouse to show one of the following: they are unable to support themselves through appropriate employment, or they are the custodian of a child whose condition or circumstances make it appropriate that the custodian not be required to seek employment outside the home.

Both parts must be satisfied. A spouse who has significant property but cannot work does not automatically qualify, and a spouse who can work but simply chooses not to will not qualify under part two unless a child's needs make employment genuinely inappropriate. The threshold keeps maintenance focused on demonstrated financial need rather than marital fault or preference.

How Courts Decide Amount and Duration

Once the threshold is cleared, the court moves to the second question: how much maintenance should be ordered and for how long? Mo. Rev. Stat. 452.335(2) lists 10 factors the court must consider. There is no formula that mechanically converts these factors into a dollar amount.

The 10 statutory factors are:

1. The financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance, including the extent to which marital property was apportioned to that spouse and the spouse's ability to meet their own needs independently.
2. The time needed for the spouse seeking maintenance to acquire sufficient education or training to find appropriate employment.
3. The comparative earning capacity of each spouse.
4. The standard of living established during the marriage.
5. The obligations and assets of each party, including the marital property apportioned to each and the separate property of each.
6. The duration of the marriage.
7. The age and the physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance.
8. The ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet their own needs while also meeting the needs of the spouse seeking maintenance.
9. The conduct of both parties during the marriage.
10. Any other relevant factors the court deems appropriate.

No formula, significant discretion. Missouri appellate courts have consistently held that trial courts have wide latitude in applying these factors. Two spouses in seemingly similar circumstances can receive very different awards depending on how a judge weighs the factors. The comparative earning capacity (factor 3), the length of the marriage (factor 6), and the ability of the paying spouse to pay (factor 8) tend to carry heavy practical weight in contested cases.

Modifiable vs. nonmodifiable maintenance. Mo. Rev. Stat. 452.335(3) requires the judgment to state expressly whether the maintenance award is modifiable or nonmodifiable. If modifiable, either party can later return to court and ask for a change based on a substantial and continuing change in circumstances. If the parties agree, or if the court orders it, maintenance can be made nonmodifiable so that neither side can seek an adjustment later. Nonmodifiable awards are more common in lump-sum or property-settlement-adjacent arrangements.

Limited-term vs. indefinite maintenance. A limited-term award gives the recipient time to complete education or training and become self-supporting. Indefinite maintenance: sometimes called open-ended maintenance: is appropriate when the requesting spouse is unlikely to become self-sufficient, such as in a very long marriage where one spouse left the workforce entirely. Either type can be modifiable or nonmodifiable.

When Maintenance Ends or Changes

Automatic termination

Under Mo. Rev. Stat. 452.370(3), the obligation to pay future maintenance terminates automatically upon the death of either party or the remarriage of the party receiving maintenance. No court action is needed for the termination to take effect.

Mo. Rev. Stat. 452.075 reinforces this for remarriage: when a divorce decree includes a maintenance order, the remarriage of the former spouse relieves the paying spouse of further obligation from the date of remarriage, without additional court proceedings. A notable case under this statute held that even a remarriage later annulled due to fraud ends the maintenance obligation.

What the parties can change by agreement

The automatic termination rules can be overridden. If both parties agree in writing, or if the judgment expressly provides otherwise, maintenance can continue beyond remarriage or survive the death of the paying spouse. Courts can also order the paying spouse to maintain life insurance to secure a maintenance obligation that survives death. These departures from the default rules must be explicit.

Modification based on changed circumstances

If maintenance is modifiable, either party can seek a change under Mo. Rev. Stat. 452.370(1). The standard is a showing of changed circumstances that are both substantial and continuing, making the existing terms unreasonable. A temporary setback, such as a short-term loss of income, is generally not enough. The change must be lasting and significant.

Common reasons courts modify maintenance include a substantial increase or decrease in the paying spouse's income, the receiving spouse reaching self-sufficiency sooner than expected, or a serious health change affecting either party's ability to work.

Is Missouri Maintenance Taxable?

The tax treatment of maintenance depends on when the divorce or separation agreement was executed.

Agreements signed after December 31, 2018. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act fundamentally changed federal tax rules. For divorce instruments executed after that date, maintenance payments are not deductible by the paying spouse and are not included in the taxable income of the receiving spouse. This is the rule that applies to most divorces filed today.

Agreements signed before January 1, 2019. Under the old rules, maintenance was deductible by the payer and taxable to the recipient. These rules still apply to pre-2019 agreements unless the agreement is later modified and that modification expressly states that the TCJA rules apply.

If you are uncertain which set of rules applies to your situation, consult a tax professional or review IRS Topic 452. Missouri does not have a separate state income tax rule that overrides the federal framework.

How Maintenance Differs from Missouri Child Support

Missouri maintenance and Missouri child support are separate legal obligations governed by separate statutes. Child support is calculated under a formula set by the Missouri Supreme Court (Form 14) and is designed to cover the cost of raising children. Maintenance is discretionary and designed to address one spouse's financial need after divorce.

Both can be ordered in the same case and run at the same time. However, they are calculated independently and serve different purposes. Modifying one does not automatically change the other. Child support continues until the child is emancipated; maintenance continues until the judgment's stated end date, a terminating event under 452.370, or a court modifies it.

For more on child support in Missouri, see our guide to Missouri child support laws.

For a comparison of how other states handle spousal support, see alimony laws by state.

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The information on this page is for general educational purposes only and is not legal advice. Missouri maintenance law is fact-specific, and outcomes vary significantly depending on the circumstances of your case. Consult a licensed Missouri family law attorney for advice about your situation.

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Last updated: June 1, 2026.