Wisconsin Alimony Calculator (2024) | Sterling Lawyers, LLC (2024)

There are no formulas in Wisconsin’s alimony laws that outline how much to pay based on percentages of income or anything like that. This makes it difficult to estimate alimony payments on your own.

That’s why we created the calculator below to estimate the payments for you.

How to Calculate Spousal Maintenance

Alimony, spousal support, and spousal maintenance all mean the same thing. Most people call it alimony, but the Wisconsin courts call it spousal maintenance. All these words refer to when the court orders one party to pay the other a set amount of money for a set amount of time.

In Wisconsin, spousal maintenance is calculated on a case-by-case basis. Because of this, the calculator below uses the equations of other states and counties as a basis. But to get advice specific to your situation and case, schedule a consultation with an attorney at Sterling Law Offices.

These are estimated values and may present inaccurate results for high income individuals. For a more accurate estimation of spousal support payments, please schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys.

Qualifying for Spousal Maintenance

The Wisconsin courts can grant alimony to either party in cases of annulment, divorce, or legal separation. Whether alimony is awarded depends on the following list of factors:

1. The length of the marriage.
2. The property division in the case.
3. The age and physical and emotional health of each party.
4. Each party's education level at the beginning and end of the marriage.
5. The earning capacity of the party seeking maintenance.
6. A party’s contribution to the other’s earning power (education, training, etc.).
7. Whether the person seeking maintenance can become self-supporting at a comparable standard of living.
8. Any previously made agreements regarding financial support.
9. The tax consequences to each party.
10. Any other factors the court decides are relevant.[1]

The reason for divorce cannot be a factor because Wisconsin is a no-fault divorce state. Some of the factors aren’t as straightforward as others, so below is a deeper look into a few.

Earning Capacity

The court values all types of labor within a marriage. They understand that it’s not easy to get back into the workforce. And they know it's especially hard for someone who hasn't been working for a while.

An evaluation of earning capacity looks at how much the person seeking alimony could reasonably make. This can lead to standard alimony or rehabilitative alimony. “Standard” supplements income and “rehabilitative” covers costs for education or vocational training. That’s why an evaluation of earning capacity considers a persons

• training,
• employment skills,
• educational background,
• length of absence from the job market,
• custodial responsibilities for any children, and
• expenses required to gain needed training or education.

Similarly, if the party who would pay alimony isn't making as much as they could, there can be a vocational evaluation.

Vocational Evaluation

A vocational evaluation is an analysis by a Qualified Rehabilitation Consultant. The evaluation determines if a party could or should be making more than they do. In some cases, this leads to “imputing” income, which is when the court orders a party to pay maintenance based on what they should be making.

Standard of Living

Standard of living is one of those terms that gets tossed around a lot when it comes to alimony. It’s used when assessing whether a party needs maintenance to have similar financial freedoms as they did in the marriage. This factor is important because it directly impacts the amount a person gets in alimony.

Tax Consequences of Spousal Maintenance

The tax implications of alimony changed in 2019. The person paying can no longer deduct alimony payments on their taxes. And the person receiving the alimony doesn't have to pay income tax on it.