Spousal maintenance is Arizona's term for financial support paid by one spouse to the other after or during divorce or legal separation. It used to be called alimony. Arizona law calls it spousal maintenance. It is awarded when a spouse cannot be self-sufficient after the divorce.

The threshold question in every spousal maintenance case is whether the requesting spouse can support themselves after the divorce.

Arizona uses an official spousal maintenance calculator maintained by the Maricopa County Superior Court. The current version took effect January 1, 2026 and is available at superiorcourt.maricopa.gov. The calculator takes both spouses' incomes, marriage length, and both ages as inputs and produces a range from low, midpoint, and high for monthly amount and a duration range in months.

A negotiated spousal maintenance agreement can do things a judicial order cannot. It can be made non-modifiable. It can be structured as a lump sum. It can be traded for an asset. It can step down at defined milestones. It can be collateralized with life insurance or a real estate lien. A judge can only order monthly payments for a time period.

Be aware of the tax treatment of spousal maintenance that changed in 2019. Consult your tax professional for this advice.