Idaho Spousal Support Calculator Estimate spousal maintenance under Idaho Code § 32-705: the two-part eligibility test, the seven factors, and modification under § 32-709
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Idaho Spousal Maintenance at a Glance
Use this free Idaho spousal maintenance calculator to see how Idaho Code § 32-705 may apply to your situation. Idaho calls alimony maintenance, and it has no statewide formula: the court first asks whether the spouse seeking maintenance meets a two-part test, then sets the amount and period it deems just after weighing the listed factors, including fault. The same state law applies whether your divorce is filed in Ada County (Boise), Canyon County (Nampa), Kootenai County (Coeur d'Alene), Bonneville County (Idaho Falls), Twin Falls County or anywhere else in Idaho. The calculator compares the recipient's monthly need with the payor's ability to pay, and lists your answers against each statutory factor.
Two questions come first
The court may grant maintenance only if the spouse seeking it lacks sufficient property for reasonable needs and is unable to support himself or herself through employment.
Idaho Code § 32-705(1)
No formula
The amount and period are whatever the court deems just after considering all relevant factors. Maintenance is not a right in every divorce.
Idaho Code § 32-705(2)
Seven listed factors
Resources, time for training, length of marriage, age and condition, the payor's ability to pay, tax consequences, and fault. The list is not exclusive.
Idaho Code § 32-705(2)(a)-(g)
Fault can matter
The fault of either party is a listed factor. The statute does not say how much weight it carries.
Idaho Code § 32-705(2)(g)
No cap on duration
Idaho sets no minimum marriage length and no maximum period, and maintenance need not be rehabilitative only.
Idaho Code § 32-705; Idaho Legal Aid
Changing an order
Modification reaches only installments after the motion is filed and needs a substantial and material change of circumstances. Temporary maintenance during the case is addressed in § 32-704.
Idaho Code §§ 32-704, 32-709(1)
Idaho Spousal Maintenance Calculator
Fields marked *with an asterisk are required. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
Income Information
ℹ️Temporary maintenance is requested while the divorce is pending (Idaho Code § 32-704) and generally ends when the decree is entered. Post-decree maintenance is decided under § 32-705. Idaho has no formula for either.
ℹ️Total gross monthly income of the spouse who would pay, from all sources, before taxes. Courts can look at the paying spouse's ability to meet his or her own needs while meeting the other spouse's (§ 32-705(2)(e)).
Please enter a valid positive number
ℹ️Net income after taxes and mandatory deductions. Idaho has no formula, but ability to pay is a practical question of what the payor actually has left. If you leave it blank, gross income is used, which overstates the result.
Take-home income must be a positive number and cannot exceed gross income
ℹ️Gross monthly income of the spouse who would receive maintenance. Courts consider whether that spouse can support himself or herself through employment (§ 32-705(1)(b)).
Please enter a valid positive number
ℹ️Net income after taxes. If you leave it blank, gross income is used.
Take-home income must be a positive number and cannot exceed gross income
ℹ️Child support the payor pays is subtracted from what the payor has available. Enter 0 if none.
Please enter a valid positive number
Marriage Details
ℹ️The duration of the marriage is a listed factor (§ 32-705(2)(c)). Idaho sets no minimum marriage length and no maximum period for maintenance. Enter decimals, for example 9.5.
Please enter a valid length between 0 and 100 years
ℹ️Age and the physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance are listed factors (§ 32-705(2)(d)). Listed in your results; does not change the dollar estimate.
Please enter a valid age between 18 and 100
ℹ️Listed in your results; does not change the dollar estimate.
Please enter a valid age between 18 and 100
Idaho Factors Under Idaho Code § 32-705(2)
ℹ️The fault of either party is a factor a court may consider (§ 32-705(2)(g)). The statute does not say how fault changes an amount. Listed in your results; does not change the dollar estimate.
Recipient will receive significant property, or has significant separate propertyℹ️The first question under § 32-705(1)(a) is whether the recipient lacks sufficient property for reasonable needs, and § 32-705(2)(a) counts marital property apportioned to that spouse. If checked, the results flag the estimate as uncertain.
Caring for the couple's children limits the recipient's ability to workℹ️Not a listed factor, but the court may consider all relevant factors (§ 32-705(2)) and the first question is whether the recipient can support himself or herself through employment (§ 32-705(1)(b)). Listed in your results; does not change the dollar estimate.
Recipient's earning capacity was reduced by time out of work for the marriage or familyℹ️Not a listed factor, but relevant to whether the recipient can support himself or herself through employment and to the time needed for training (§ 32-705(1)(b), (2)(b)). Listed in your results; does not change the dollar estimate.
Recipient lives with a new partnerℹ️Cohabitation does not by itself end maintenance. It can be raised in a motion to modify if it brings a substantial and material change in the recipient's circumstances (§ 32-709(1)). Listed in your results; does not change the dollar estimate.
ℹ️Tax consequences to each spouse are a listed factor (§ 32-705(2)(f)). After 2018, federal law neither lets the payor deduct maintenance nor counts it as the recipient's income, and Idaho generally follows federal taxable income.
The spouses have a written agreement about maintenanceℹ️Spouses may agree on amount, duration and modifiability. The estimate assumes no agreement applies.
Agreements about maintenance in Idaho
Spouses can often agree on the amount, the duration and when maintenance ends, and a court may adopt the agreement in the decree.
Idaho Legal Aid notes that many maintenance awards cannot be modified once ordered, so the wording of an agreement matters.
An agreement should state its tax treatment, which depends on when it was executed (see the tax field above).
An attorney should review your agreement.
Needs and Resources
ℹ️Rent or mortgage, property taxes, insurance and utilities, at the quality of life established during the marriage (Idaho courts measure reasonable needs that way).
Please enter a valid positive number
ℹ️Premiums not covered by an employer plan plus expected out-of-pocket costs.
Please enter a valid positive number
ℹ️Food, transportation, clothing, personal care and other regular costs, at the quality of life established during the marriage.
Please enter a valid positive number
ℹ️Cost of education or training needed to find employment (§ 32-705(2)(b)). Counted unless a permanent condition is selected.
Please enter a valid positive number
ℹ️The time needed to acquire sufficient education and training to find employment is a listed factor (§ 32-705(2)(b)). Listed in your results; does not change the dollar estimate.
Please enter a number of months between 0 and 240
ℹ️The payor's necessary living expenses, so the illustration reflects the payor's ability to meet his or her own needs while meeting the other spouse's (§ 32-705(2)(e)). Leave child support out and enter it above. If blank, treated as $0, which overstates what the payor has available.
Please enter a valid positive number
Earning Capacity
ℹ️Education bears on whether the recipient can find employment and on the time needed for training (§ 32-705(2)(b)). Listed in your results; does not change the dollar estimate.
ℹ️Time out of the workforce can affect the ability to find employment. Listed in your results; does not change the dollar estimate.
Please enter a valid number between 0 and 50
ℹ️The age and the physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance is a listed factor (§ 32-705(2)(d)). A permanent condition that prevents work points toward longer maintenance and is not counted toward education costs here.
Your Idaho Spousal Maintenance Estimate
Illustrative monthly amount
The two questions under § 32-705(1)
Lacks sufficient property for reasonable needs:
Unable to support self through employment:
The court decides both questions on the evidence. These lines only compare the numbers you entered.
What the figures show
Recipient's need:
Payor's ability to pay:
Idaho has no maintenance formula, so need and ability to pay are shown as an illustration. They are not the court's result.
Duration under § 32-705(2)
How the amount was estimated
Your answers under the § 32-705(2) factors
The court weighs all of these together; they are listed for discussion with an attorney, not scored.
Tax treatment, when maintenance changes or ends, and other notes
Modifying or Ending Spousal Maintenance in Idaho
Legal standards
Modification: a decree's maintenance provisions may be modified only as to installments accruing after the motion is filed, and only on a showing of a substantial and material change of circumstances (Idaho Code § 32-709(1)).
Permanent change: Idaho Legal Aid describes the change as permanent, substantial and material.
Examples: the recipient's remarriage, new adequate employment of the recipient, and unreasonable use of the payments.
Not enough alone: inflation or a higher cost of living, without a look at the parties' relative needs and abilities.
Common grounds
A substantial and lasting change in either party's income, including job loss
A new or worsening illness or disability
Remarriage of the recipient; check the decree's wording about when maintenance ends
Cohabitation that materially changes the recipient's financial circumstances (cohabitation alone does not end maintenance)
Retirement of the payor, which courts evaluate case by case
New adequate employment of the recipient
Typical steps
Read the decree and any agreement to see whether the award can be modified at all.
Gather evidence such as tax returns, pay records and medical records.
File a petition or motion to modify in the case that issued the order (the Idaho Court Assistance Office publishes forms).
Serve the other party as the Idaho rules require.
Present evidence at the hearing; the party seeking the change must show the change in circumstances.
Ask an attorney from what date the change will apply, because it reaches only installments after the motion is filed.
Practical cautions
Never stop paying without a court order. Unpaid maintenance can lead to enforcement.
File promptly. Past installments are not changed.
Ask for maintenance in your first filing. Idaho Legal Aid advises requesting it in the petition for divorce or the response and counterclaim, or the court will likely not consider it.
Idaho Authority and Case Law
Idaho Code § 32-705 (maintenance)
Idaho Code, Title 32, Chapter 7
What it says: The court may grant maintenance if the spouse seeking it lacks sufficient property to provide for reasonable needs and is unable to support himself or herself through employment. The amount and period are what the court deems just after considering all relevant factors, which may include financial resources, time for education and training, the duration of the marriage, age and physical and emotional condition, the payor's ability to meet his or her own needs, tax consequences, and fault.
Idaho Code §§ 32-704 and 32-709
Idaho Code, Title 32, Chapter 7
What they say: Section 32-704 addresses temporary support while a divorce is pending. Section 32-709(1) allows modification of maintenance only for installments accruing after the motion for modification and only on a showing of a substantial and material change of circumstances.
Stewart v. Stewart, 143 Idaho 673, 152 P.3d 544 (2007)
Idaho Supreme Court
Point cited: A spouse's reasonable needs are based on the quality of life established during the marriage, as summarized by Idaho Legal Aid.
Brazier v. Brazier, 726 P.2d 1143 (Ct. App. 1986)
Idaho Court of Appeals
Point cited: In deciding maintenance, a court may keep an eye to the future and consider a change in circumstances that substantial and competent evidence shows will occur, as summarized by Idaho Legal Aid.
Daniels v. Daniels, 351 P.2d 236 (Idaho 1960)
Idaho Supreme Court
Point cited: A court modified maintenance where the recipient was squandering the payments, as an example of unreasonable use, as summarized by Idaho Legal Aid.
Summaries are for general information and may not reflect later developments. Have an attorney confirm the current status of any authority before relying on it.
Idaho Spousal Maintenance FAQs
How is spousal maintenance decided in Idaho?▼
Idaho calls alimony maintenance. Under Idaho Code § 32-705, when a divorce is decreed the court may grant maintenance if the spouse seeking it lacks sufficient property to provide for his or her reasonable needs and is unable to support himself or herself through employment. If both conditions are met, the court sets an amount and a period of time that it deems just after considering all relevant factors. There is no statewide formula, and maintenance is not a right: the court is not required to award it.
Does Idaho have a maintenance formula?▼
No. Section 32-705(2) leaves the amount and the period to the court after it weighs the listed factors, which may include others. Any figure from a calculator, including this one, is an illustration of need and ability to pay and not a prediction of what a judge will order.
What factors does an Idaho court consider?▼
Section 32-705(2) lists these factors, which may include others: the financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance, including the marital property apportioned to that spouse, and that spouse's ability to meet needs independently; the time needed to acquire education and training to find employment; the duration of the marriage; the age and the physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance; the ability of the paying spouse to meet his or her own needs while meeting those of the other spouse; the tax consequences to each spouse; and the fault of either party.
Does fault affect maintenance in Idaho?▼
It can. The fault of either party is one of the factors a court may consider under § 32-705(2)(g). The statute does not say how much weight fault carries or how it changes the amount, so this calculator lists any fault you report and does not adjust the dollar figure for it.
How long does spousal maintenance last in Idaho?▼
The court sets the period it deems just. Idaho has no statutory formula, no minimum marriage length and no maximum period. Idaho Legal Aid notes that maintenance does not have to be rehabilitative only, so an award does not necessarily end once the recipient can support himself or herself. The duration of the marriage, the time needed for education or training, and the recipient's age and condition are among the listed factors.
What does it mean that a spouse has "reasonable needs" in Idaho?▼
Idaho courts measure reasonable needs by the quality of life established during the marriage, not by a lifestyle that existed only before it (Stewart v. Stewart, 143 Idaho 673 (2007), as summarized by Idaho Legal Aid). This calculator uses the expenses you enter on that basis, so enter what the household actually spent during the marriage, not an ideal budget.
Can Idaho spousal maintenance be modified or end?▼
A decree's maintenance provisions may be modified only for installments that accrue after the motion for modification is filed, and only on a showing of a substantial and material change of circumstances (Idaho Code § 32-709(1)). Idaho Legal Aid lists the recipient's remarriage, new adequate employment of the recipient, and unreasonable use of the payments as examples, and notes that inflation alone is not enough. Many decrees and agreements also say when maintenance ends, and some awards cannot be modified, so read the decree. Keep paying until a court order changes the obligation.
Is Idaho spousal maintenance taxable?▼
For divorce or separation instruments executed after December 31, 2018, federal law does not let the payor deduct maintenance and does not count it as the recipient's income. Idaho income tax generally starts from federal taxable income, so the treatment generally follows. For instruments executed on or before December 31, 2018, the older rules (deductible to the payor, taxable to the recipient) generally apply unless the instrument was later modified to adopt the new rules. Tax consequences to each spouse are also a § 32-705(2)(f) factor. Confirm with a tax professional.
How does this calculator estimate maintenance?▼
It first screens the two statutory questions with the numbers you enter: whether the recipient's counted monthly needs exceed the recipient's income, and whether you flagged significant property that the court may count. It then compares the recipient's monthly shortfall with the payor's ability to pay (income minus expenses and child support) and shows the smaller figure as an illustration. It also lists your answers against the § 32-705(2) factors.
It is not a formula that Idaho courts use, it does not adjust the amount for fault, age or county, and it does not predict an award. A judge decides after weighing every factor.
Disclaimer: This calculator provides educational estimates based on Idaho Code §§ 32-704, 32-705 and 32-709 and Idaho Legal Aid's published guidance, and it is not legal advice. It does not apply any formula that Idaho courts use, because Idaho has none, and it does not predict what a court will order; a judge decides maintenance only after weighing every relevant factor. Statutes and case law change. Consult a licensed Idaho family law attorney about your situation.