Vermont Spousal Maintenance (Alimony) Laws: How It Works (2026)
Vermont Spousal Maintenance (Alimony) Laws: How It Works (2026)
Vermont calls spousal support "maintenance" rather than alimony. Courts may order one spouse to pay the other after a divorce or legal separation when the requesting spouse meets a specific legal test set out in state law. If you are going through a Vermont divorce, understanding how the threshold works, what types of support exist, and which factors drive the award can help you prepare for what comes next.
Information last verified on June 1, 2026.
Estimate your situation: Try our free Vermont alimony calculator to estimate spousal support and see the factors a Vermont court weighs.
What Is Spousal Maintenance in Vermont?
Spousal maintenance is ongoing financial support that a Vermont court orders one former spouse to pay the other after a divorce or legal separation. The term "alimony" is commonly used in everyday speech, but Vermont statutes use "maintenance" exclusively throughout Title 15.
The purpose of maintenance is to ease the economic hardship that a divorce may impose on a financially dependent spouse. It is separate from property division under 15 V.S.A. § 751, which splits assets once and for all at the time of divorce. Maintenance is a periodic payment that can change over time and must be requested before the divorce judgment becomes final.
Vermont courts may order maintenance as either a rehabilitative award to help a spouse become self-supporting, or as a long-term award when full self-sufficiency is not realistic. The amount and duration are set by the court after considering all relevant circumstances.
The Two-Part Threshold Test
Before a Vermont court can order any maintenance at all, the requesting spouse must clear a two-part threshold under 15 V.S.A. § 752(a). The court must find that the spouse seeking maintenance satisfies both of the following:
Part 1 (Financial insufficiency): The spouse lacks sufficient income or property, or both (including any property received through the property division under § 751), to provide for his or her reasonable needs.
Part 2 (Employment barrier): 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 parts must be satisfied. A spouse who has adequate income or property to meet reasonable needs does not qualify, even if they earn less than their former partner. "Reasonable needs" is measured against the standard of living the couple maintained during the marriage, not a bare-minimum subsistence level.
The custodian-of-a-child alternative in Part 2 recognizes that a parent who is the primary caregiver for young children may not be able to pursue full-time employment regardless of their earning potential.
Rehabilitative vs. Long-Term Maintenance
Vermont law explicitly recognizes that maintenance may be "rehabilitative or long term in nature" (15 V.S.A. § 752). These two categories reflect different circumstances and goals.
Rehabilitative Maintenance
Rehabilitative maintenance is short-term support intended to allow a spouse time to complete education, job training, or re-entry into the workforce. Courts award this type when a spouse could eventually become self-sufficient but needs a defined period of financial support to get there.
For example, a spouse who left the workforce to raise children might receive rehabilitative maintenance for two to four years to cover living expenses while earning a degree or professional certification. Once that goal is accomplished, the support ends.
Long-Term Maintenance
Long-term maintenance is appropriate when full self-support at the marital standard of living is unlikely or unrealistic. This situation often arises in long marriages where one spouse was primarily a homemaker, where there is a significant disparity in earning capacity, or where age or health limits employment options.
Long-term does not always mean permanent. Courts set a specific duration unless circumstances truly warrant indefinite support. Even long-term awards are subject to modification or termination if circumstances change.
How Courts Decide Amount and Duration
Vermont gives judges broad discretion. There is no binding formula that mechanically calculates how much maintenance to award or for how long. Instead, 15 V.S.A. § 752(b) directs the court to consider all relevant factors, including:
- Financial resources and property: The income, assets, and property awarded to the maintenance-seeking spouse, including their ability to meet needs independently and any child support received.
- Time and expense for training: The realistic time and cost needed for the requesting spouse to acquire education or training sufficient to find appropriate employment.
- Marital standard of living: The lifestyle and standard of living the parties established during the marriage.
- Duration of the marriage: How long the parties were married.
- Age and physical or emotional condition: The age, health, and emotional well-being of each spouse and how those affect earning capacity.
- Ability of the paying spouse: Whether the paying spouse can meet their own reasonable needs while also supporting the other.
- Inflation and cost of living: The effect of inflation on the ability of each spouse to meet their needs going forward.
- Social Security and retirement: The impact of either spouse reaching Social Security retirement eligibility age, or actually retiring, on the financial circumstances of both parties.
The Advisory Guidelines Table
15 V.S.A. § 752(b)(9) includes a guidelines table that correlates the length of the marriage with suggested income-percentage ranges and award durations. This table grew out of Vermont's Spousal Support and Maintenance Task Force work in 2017-2018 and was added to the statute to bring greater consistency to maintenance awards across the state's 14 counties.
The table is advisory, not binding. Courts are not required to follow it. A judge may depart from the suggested ranges based on any of the other factors in § 752(b) or any other relevant circumstance. The table functions as a starting-point reference and a check on outlier outcomes, not a formula that overrides judicial discretion.
Because the guidelines are advisory, the same income figures and marriage length can produce different results before different judges. Parties who want predictability often negotiate maintenance amounts in a separation agreement rather than leaving the decision entirely to the court.
When Maintenance Ends or Changes
Termination
Maintenance generally ends when:
- Either spouse dies. Vermont courts apply the common law principle that death of either party terminates a maintenance obligation, because the award compensates for support that would have come from the other spouse's future income.
- The receiving spouse remarries. Courts may include a termination-on-remarriage clause in the order. Vermont law recognizes, however, that remarriage does not always improve a recipient's financial security, so some orders do not include an automatic termination clause. The specific terms of the order govern.
- The term set in the order expires (for time-limited rehabilitative or long-term awards).
Modification
Under 15 V.S.A. § 758, either party may ask the court to modify a maintenance order at any time by filing a motion and giving proper notice. The requesting party must demonstrate a real, substantial, and unanticipated change of circumstances.
Expected changes, such as a salary increase that was predictable at the time of divorce or a remarriage that was foreseeable, generally do not meet the standard. Qualifying changes might include a serious illness or disability, a significant and permanent job loss, or a dramatic shift in either party's financial situation that was not anticipated when the original order was entered.
Courts may annul, vary, or modify the existing order based on the new circumstances. The modification standard applies whether the original order resulted from a court judgment or from an agreement between the parties.
One important rule: if the court does not order maintenance at the time of the divorce, it cannot be added later. A spouse who forgets to request it, or who waits until after the judgment is final, loses the ability to seek maintenance in the future.
Tax Treatment of Maintenance
Federal tax law changed significantly with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The tax treatment of Vermont maintenance payments now depends entirely on when the divorce or separation agreement was finalized.
Agreements finalized after December 31, 2018: Maintenance payments are not deductible by the paying spouse and are not taxable income for the receiving spouse. Both parties treat the payments as invisible for federal income tax purposes.
Agreements finalized on or before December 31, 2018 (and not later modified to apply new rules): The old rules still apply. The paying spouse may deduct maintenance payments, and the receiving spouse must include them in gross income.
If a pre-2019 agreement is modified after 2018, the parties may elect to apply the new rules by including express language in the modification agreement stating that the post-2018 tax treatment applies. Absent that election, the old rules continue.
Vermont follows federal income tax treatment for state income tax purposes. Parties finalizing a divorce should consult a tax professional to confirm how their specific agreement will be treated.
How Maintenance Differs from Vermont Child Support
Maintenance and child support are separate legal obligations governed by different statutes and serving different purposes.
Vermont child support is calculated under Title 15 guidelines based on each parent's income and the number of children. It is specifically for the financial support of the children and is not affected by either parent's remarriage to the same degree. Child support is mandatory when the threshold is met; maintenance requires a separate finding that the requesting spouse meets the two-part threshold under § 752(a).
A custodial parent may receive both child support and maintenance, but the court considers any child support income when evaluating whether the maintenance threshold is met and when setting the maintenance amount.
Vermont Alimony Laws at a Glance
Governing statute: 15 V.S.A. § 752 (maintenance); 15 V.S.A. § 758 (modification)
Legal term used: Spousal maintenance
Threshold test: Two-part (financial insufficiency plus employment barrier or child custody)
Types recognized: Rehabilitative and long-term
Formula: None binding. Advisory guidelines table in § 752(b)(9); judicial discretion governs.
Modification standard: Real, substantial, and unanticipated change of circumstances
Termination: Death of either party; remarriage of recipient (if order so provides); expiration of term
Must be requested: Before the final divorce judgment
For information on how other states handle this issue, see the full alimony laws by state guide.
This page provides general legal information, not legal advice. Vermont family law is complex and fact-specific. Consult a licensed Vermont attorney for guidance on your situation.
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Last updated: June 1, 2026.