Virginia Spousal Support (Alimony) Laws: How It Works (2026)
Virginia Spousal Support (Alimony) Laws: How It Works (2026)
Virginia calls it spousal support, not alimony. Final awards are fully discretionary under Va. Code section 20-107.1, which lists 13 factors judges must weigh. A presumptive temporary formula applies pendente lite for most lower-income couples, and adultery can bar support entirely.
Information last verified on June 1, 2026.
Estimate your situation: Try our free Virginia alimony calculator to estimate spousal support and see the factors a Virginia court weighs.
What is spousal support in Virginia?
Virginia courts use the term spousal support rather than alimony. The two terms describe the same concept: one former spouse pays money to the other after separation or divorce. Virginia statutes have used the phrase spousal support exclusively since the modern domestic relations code was enacted.
The authority to award spousal support comes from Va. Code section 20-107.1. Under that section, a circuit court may decree maintenance and support for a spouse in any proceeding for divorce, annulment, or separate maintenance. The court has discretion to make or deny an award, and to set its amount and duration, after weighing all 13 factors listed in subsection E.
Virginia recognizes four types of spousal support awards:
- Pendente lite support: Temporary support paid while the divorce proceeding is pending. It is designed to maintain the financial status quo during litigation and does not predetermine the final award.
- Periodic support for a defined duration: Regular payments that end on a specific date or when a specified event occurs. Often used when the receiving spouse needs time to re-enter the workforce or complete education.
- Periodic support for an undefined (indefinite) duration: Regular payments with no fixed end date. More common after long marriages, particularly when one spouse made substantial career sacrifices or faces health conditions that limit earning capacity.
- Lump-sum support: A single payment or series of payments totaling a fixed amount. Less common but available when circumstances warrant.
Courts may also combine types, for example ordering periodic payments for a defined period followed by a lump-sum payment.
The pendente lite (temporary) support formula
Pendente lite spousal support is awarded under Va. Code section 20-103 to address the immediate financial needs of the lower-earning spouse while the case is pending. For most cases, Virginia courts apply a presumptive formula rather than a full evidentiary hearing on temporary support.
The formula applies when the parties' combined monthly gross income does not exceed $10,000. The award is calculated as follows:
Without minor children in common: Award = 27% of payor's monthly gross income minus 50% of payee's monthly gross income
With minor children in common: Award = 26% of payor's monthly gross income minus 58% of payee's monthly gross income
Monthly gross income is defined by reference to Va. Code section 20-108.2, the same definition used for child support purposes. It includes wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, dividends, pensions, interest, trust income, and most other sources of regular income before taxes or deductions.
The formula produces a presumptive amount. A court may deviate from it for good cause, including evidence about the parties' current financial circumstances or the impact of any tax exemption. When both child support and spousal support are at issue, the court must determine spousal support first before calculating the child support worksheet.
When combined monthly gross income exceeds $10,000, or when the formula would produce a zero or negative number, the court conducts a more open-ended analysis of the parties' financial circumstances to set temporary support.
How final spousal support is decided: the 13 factors
For final (post-decree) spousal support, there is no formula. Under Va. Code section 20-107.1(E), the court must consider all of the following 13 factors when determining the nature, amount, and duration of any award:
- The obligations, needs, and financial resources of the parties, including but not limited to income from pensions, profit-sharing, or retirement plans of any type.
- The standard of living established during the marriage.
- The duration of the marriage.
- The age, physical condition, and mental condition of the parties and any special circumstances of the family.
- The extent to which the age, physical condition, or mental condition of any child of the parties would make it appropriate for a party to forego employment.
- The contributions, monetary and nonmonetary, of each party to the well-being of the family.
- The property interests of the parties, both real and personal, tangible and intangible.
- The provisions made with regard to the marital property under Va. Code section 20-107.3.
- The earning capacity of each party, including the skills, education, and training of the parties and the present employment opportunities for persons possessing such earning capacity.
- The opportunity for, and ability of, each party for future acquisition of capital assets and income.
- The decisions regarding employment, career, economics, education, and parenting arrangements made by the parties during the marriage and their effect on present and future earning potential, including the length of time one of the parties may have been absent from the job market.
- The extent to which either party has contributed to the attainment of education, training, career position, or profession of the other party.
- Such other factors, including the tax consequences to each party and the circumstances and factors that contributed to the dissolution of the marriage, specifically including any ground for divorce under the provisions of Va. Code section 20-91(A)(1) through (6) or section 20-95, as are necessary to consider the equities between the parties.
No single factor is dispositive. Courts must address each factor on the record, and appellate courts have reversed awards when a trial court failed to consider one or more of them. Factor 13 expressly allows the court to weigh the circumstances that caused the marriage to end, including any fault-based ground for divorce, a provision that works in parallel with the adultery bar discussed in the next section.
The 13-factor inquiry governs both the threshold question of whether to award support at all and the follow-on questions of how much support to award and for how long. Courts have wide latitude to award a short fixed-term award, an indefinite award, or no award at all depending on the facts of the particular case.
Fault and the adultery bar
Virginia is one of the few states that retains a hard fault bar on spousal support. Under Va. Code section 20-107.1(B), no permanent spousal support may be awarded to a spouse if there exists a ground of divorce in the other spouse's favor under Va. Code section 20-91(A)(1). That provision covers adultery. A court finding adultery bars the at-fault spouse from any award.
The bar is automatic. Once a court finds that the spouse seeking support committed adultery, the default rule is that no support is awarded. The at-fault spouse does not merely receive a reduced award; the award is categorically prohibited.
The manifest injustice exception. The adultery bar has one safety valve. Under section 20-107.1(B), a court may still award support if, based on clear and convincing evidence, it finds that denial would constitute a manifest injustice. To reach that conclusion, the court must weigh two specific considerations: (1) the respective degrees of fault during the marriage, and (2) the relative economic circumstances of the parties.
The manifest injustice standard is demanding. Virginia courts have applied it narrowly. A spouse seeking to overcome the bar must present clear and convincing evidence: a higher burden than the preponderance standard used for most civil matters. The combined weight of the fault comparison and the economic disparity makes a complete denial unconscionably harsh.
Virginia also recognizes other fault-based grounds for divorce, including cruelty, desertion, and felony conviction. While these do not automatically bar support the way adultery does, factor 13 of the 13-factor analysis requires courts to consider the circumstances that caused the marriage to end, which means fault conduct short of adultery can still reduce or eliminate a support award at the court's discretion.
How support ends or changes
Remarriage
Spousal support terminates automatically upon the remarriage of the recipient spouse unless the order or a separation agreement expressly provides otherwise. Under Va. Code section 20-109(D), the recipient has an affirmative duty to notify the payor immediately upon remarriage. The payor does not need to obtain a court order for termination: the obligation ends by operation of law. Filing to confirm termination is advisable to avoid future disputes.
Cohabitation
Under Va. Code section 20-109(A), a court must terminate spousal support upon clear and convincing evidence that the recipient has been habitually cohabiting with another person in a relationship analogous to marriage for one year or more. This rule applies to all support orders regardless of when the divorce was entered.
Two exceptions apply. First, if the parties' separation agreement expressly states that cohabitation will not affect support, that contractual provision controls. Second, even without such an agreement, the court may decline to terminate if the recipient proves by a preponderance of the evidence that termination would be unconscionable. The unconscionability exception is the recipient's burden to establish once the payor demonstrates the qualifying cohabitation.
Death
Support terminates upon the death of either party unless the order expressly provides otherwise. If the payor dies, the obligation does not pass to the payor's estate as a general rule. Parties who want protection against that risk typically negotiate life insurance or other security provisions as part of the divorce settlement, with those provisions incorporated into the court order.
Modification
Under Va. Code section 20-109(A), a court may increase, decrease, or terminate spousal support upon petition showing a material change in circumstances. For defined-duration orders entered after July 1, 1998, a court may also modify upon finding that an event expected to occur by that time has not in fact occurred. The court applies the same section 20-107.1(E) factors when considering any modification.
Unlike in some other states, Virginia does not require the original order to expressly reserve modification jurisdiction. Any court that entered a spousal support order may entertain a later petition to modify.
Retirement
Reaching full retirement age as defined under Social Security rules is treated as a material change in circumstances warranting consideration of modification. Under Va. Code section 20-109(E), courts evaluate whether retirement was contemplated at the time of the original order, whether it is mandatory or voluntary, how it changes income, and the parties' ages and health when deciding whether and how to modify an existing award.
Is spousal support taxable, and how it differs from Virginia child support
Federal tax treatment
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act changed how spousal support is treated for federal income tax purposes. For divorce or separation agreements executed after December 31, 2018, spousal support payments are not deductible by the paying spouse and are not includable in the gross income of the recipient. Neither party has a federal income tax consequence from the support payments themselves.
For agreements executed on or before December 31, 2018, the prior rules still apply: the payor could deduct payments and the recipient reported them as taxable income. Those older rules remain in place for agreements that have not been modified to opt into the new treatment. Virginia state income tax generally follows federal treatment.
Factor 13 of the section 20-107.1(E) analysis requires Virginia courts to consider the tax consequences to each party when setting the amount of support. For divorces finalized after 2018, this factor carries less immediate financial significance, but courts may still weigh the overall tax picture of both spouses.
Consult a licensed tax professional regarding your specific situation, particularly if your agreement predates 2019 or is being modified after that date.
How spousal support differs from Virginia child support
Spousal support and child support are separate legal obligations under Virginia law. The key distinctions are:
- Purpose: Spousal support addresses the financial needs of a former spouse. Child support addresses the needs of a minor child.
- Calculation: Child support is calculated using the income shares model under Va. Code section 20-108.2, with specific worksheets and tables. Spousal support has no formula for final awards; it is fully discretionary under the 13-factor analysis.
- Pendente lite: Both have presumptive temporary formulas for lower-income cases, but child support uses different schedules. When both are at issue, Virginia courts must set spousal support first.
- Tax treatment: Child support has never been deductible by the payor or taxable to the recipient under federal law, regardless of when the agreement was executed.
- Termination: Child support ends upon the child's emancipation. Spousal support ends on the events described above.
For details on how Virginia calculates child support, see our page on Virginia child support laws.
For a broader look at how all 50 states handle spousal support, see the alimony laws by state hub.
Legal disclaimer: This page provides general legal information about Virginia spousal support law and is not legal advice. Spousal support determinations are highly fact-specific and depend on individual circumstances. For advice about your particular situation, consult a licensed Virginia family law attorney.
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Sources
- Virginia General Assembly. Va. Code section 20-107.1: Court may decree as to maintenance and support of spouses. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title20/chapter6/section20-107.1/
- Virginia General Assembly. Va. Code section 20-103: Temporary orders for custody, visitation, support, etc.. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title20/chapter6/section20-103/
- Virginia General Assembly. Va. Code section 20-109: Changing maintenance and support for a spouse; cessation upon cohabitation, remarriage, or death. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title20/chapter6/section20-109/
- Virginia General Assembly. Va. Code section 16.1-278.17:1: Spousal support guideline. https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title16.1/chapter11/section16.1-278.17:1/
- Internal Revenue Service. Divorce or Separation May Have an Effect on Taxes. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/divorce-or-separation-may-have-an-effect-on-taxes
- Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 452, Alimony and Separate Maintenance. https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc452
Last updated: June 1, 2026.