Divorce money in Maine: property, support, legal fees and whether the state taxes alimony
The money picture for a divorce in Maine: how property gets divided, what Maine calls spousal support and how it is decided, whether one spouse can be made to pay the other’s legal fees while the case is running, and — the part nobody publishes — whether Maine’s own income tax follows the federal rule on alimony.
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Every claim is traced to Maine’s own statute, court rule or revenue department, quoted where the wording carries the meaning. Where we could not verify something, the page says so instead of filling the space. Information, not legal advice — and tax questions in particular need a professional in your state. Corrections: thecusp.app/corrections.
Does Maine follow the federal alimony rule?
Since 2019, federal law has treated alimony as not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient, for any instrument executed after 31 December 2018. Most people assume every state followed. Most did. Not all.
We were unable to confirm from a Maine revenue department publication or conformity provision whether the state follows the federal alimony treatment. Rather than infer it from a neighboring state or a secondary summary, we are telling you it is open.
Ask your accountant this exact question: does this state require an adjustment for alimony paid or received on the state return? It is a five-minute answer for someone who files there, and it can be worth thousands.
If you know the answer, tell us and we will publish it with the citation.
Nationally: 36 states follow the federal rule, 9 have no income tax, 4 are decoupled, and 1 — Maine — we could not establish. The full fifty-state table and what each decoupled state does differently.
How property is divided
Maine is an equitable distribution state. That means the court divides marital property fairly, which is not a synonym for equally. What counts as marital rather than separate property is frequently the whole argument.
the court shall set apart to each spouse the spouse’s property and shall divide the marital property in proportions the court considers just after considering all relevant factors
Source: 19-A M.R.S. § 953(1)
Spousal support
Maine calls it spousal support. Using the state’s own word matters when you are searching for forms or reading a statute.
hybrid – factors-based (§ 951-A(5)) but with a statutory durational presumption: ‘a rebuttable presumption that general support may not be awarded if the parties were married for less than 10 years,’ and for marriages of 10-20 years, a rebuttable presumption against a term exceeding one-half the length of the marriage (§ 951-A(2)(A)(1)). Maine also codifies distinct statutory categories of support – general, transitional, reimbursement, nominal, and interim (§ 951-A(2)).
General support may be awarded to provide financial assistance to a spouse with substantially less income potential than the other spouse so that both spouses can maintain a reasonable standard of…ing after the divorce
Source: 19-A M.R.S. § 951-A(2)
Who pays for the lawyers
the court may, after an opportunity for hearing, order a party … to pay another party or another party’s attorney reasonable attorney’s fees, including costs, for participation in the proceedings
Source: 19-A M.R.S. § 105(1)
In appropriate cases, the court may order fees and costs paid while an action is pending, including while on appeal, or may make an order as part of a final decision in a case. (19-A M.R.S. § 105(2))
A fee award that only arrives at final judgment is close to worthless to someone who could not afford a lawyer during the case. By then it is over. An interim award is what stops a wealthier spouse winning by attrition.
If you are the lower earner, this is the single most actionable thing on this page. Ask at the first meeting, in these words: “Can we move for an interim award of attorney fees now?” Do not let “we will deal with fees at the end” pass unexamined.
Separately, if custody is contested you may be ordered to pay for a guardian ad litem or a custody evaluator, and the court decides how to split that. What that costs in Maine, and who bears it.
The thing worth knowing about Maine
Maine statutorily separates spousal support into five distinct named categories – general, transitional, reimbursement, nominal, and interim support (19-A M.R.S. § 951-A(2)) – each with its own purpose and eligibility standard, and imposes a rebuttable presumption barring general support altogether for marriages under 10 years and capping its term at half the marriage’s length for marriages of 10-20 years.
What we could not verify
For Maine, we could not confirm the following from a primary source. We would rather print the gap than fill it:
- the child support model
- whether the state follows the federal alimony tax rule
If you practice in Maine and can point us at the right provision, tell us. Corrections are published with the date, what changed, and how long the error was live.