The rest of what we have written about New Hampshire. Every figure is quoted from New Hampshire’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Dividing property and money in a New Hampshire divorce
The money picture for a divorce in New Hampshire: how property gets divided, what New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire’s own income tax follows the federal rule on alimony.
See a different stateNew Hampshire
Every claim is traced to New Hampshire’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 New Hampshire 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.
New Hampshire’s Interest & Dividends (I&D) Tax — historically the state’s only personal income tax, and only on interest/dividend income, not wages — was repealed effective for taxable periods beginning after December 31, 2024, per the state’s TIR 2025-001. As of tax year 2026, New Hampshire imposes no personal income tax of any kind, so there is no state-level alimony inclusion/deduction question.
Source: N.H. Dept. of Revenue Administration, Interest & Dividends Tax overview page, and TIR 2025-001 (“Interest & Dividends Tax Repealed Effective January 1, 2025”) · source
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
New Hampshire 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 presume that an equal division is an equitable distribution of property…unless the court decides that an equal division would not be appropriate or equitable after considering one or more of the following factors
Source: RSA 458:16-a
Alimony (term alimony and reimbursement alimony)
New Hampshire calls it alimony (term alimony and reimbursement alimony). Using the state’s own word matters when you are searching for forms or reading a statute.
guideline formula
A formula makes the outcome far more predictable than in a factors-only state — run it before you negotiate, not after.
The amount of a term alimony order shall be the lesser of the payee’s reasonable need, or a formula based on 23 percent of the difference between the parties’ gross incomes at the time the order is created, unless the court finds that justice requires an adjustment.
Source: RSA 458:19-a
Child support
New Hampshire uses the income shares model — both parents’ incomes go into the calculation, and the result is apportioned between you.
Whichever model applies, this is the most predictable number in your case — there is a formula and a presumption that its output is correct. Deviating from it takes written findings. Run it early; it is free, and it anchors everything else.
Guideline: RSA 458-C:3
How New Hampshire calculates child support, in detail
Who pays for the lawyers
the court shall award reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party [in a proceeding to enforce a prior order or decree]
Source: RSA 458:51 (contempt proceedings only; no general fee-shifting statute for the underlying divorce action was located in RSA ch. 458)
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 New Hampshire, and who bears it.
The thing worth knowing about New Hampshire
New Hampshire is one of the only states with an actual statutory alimony formula (23% of the gross-income difference, capped at need, per RSA 458:19-a) — and the statute itself explicitly builds in the post-TCJA federal tax treatment, stating the 23% figure is ‘based on alimony not being deductible to the payor and taxable to the payee under federal income tax law’ and would rise to 30% if federal law changed back.
What we could not verify
For New Hampshire, we could not confirm the following from a primary source. We would rather print the gap than fill it:
- whether interim fee awards are available
If you practice in New Hampshire 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.