Alimony in Virginia.
Whether the state sets a formula or leaves it to the judge, what the court has to weigh, how long it runs, and what brings it to an end.
See a different stateVirginia
Virginia has a genuine statutory presumptive formula, and it applies only to pendente lite spousal support in cases under an income ceiling. Va. Code 20-103(E), (G) and (I), quoted verbatim: '(E) There shall be a presumption in any judicial proceeding for pendente lite spousal support and maintenance under this section that the amount of the award that would result from the application of the formula set forth in this section is the correct amount of spousal support to be awarded.' '(G) If the parties have minor children in common, the presumptive amount of an award of pendente lite spousal support and maintenance shall be the difference between 26 percent of the payor spouse's monthly gross income and 58 percent of the payee spouse's monthly gross income. If the parties have no minor children in common, the presumptive amount of the award shall be the difference between 27 percent of the payor spouse's monthly gross income and 50 percent of the payee spouse's monthly gross income.' '(I) The presumptive formula set forth in this section shall only apply to cases where the parties' combined monthly gross income does not exceed $10,000.' And Virginia says in terms that the pendente lite figure does not carry over, at 20-103(J): 'An order entered pursuant to this section shall have no presumptive effect and shall not be determinative when adjudicating the underlying cause.' The same formula is enacted separately for the juvenile and domestic relations district courts at Va. Code 16.1-278.17:1(A): 'There shall be a presumption in any judicial proceeding for pendente lite spousal support and maintenance under this title that the amount of the award that would result from the application of the formula set forth in this section is the correct amount of spousal support to be awarded.' Post-divorce support under 20-107.1 has no formula, no percentage and no cap. Sources: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title20/chapter6/section20-103/ and https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title16.1/chapter11/section16.1-278.17:1/
It reaches temporary support while the case is running only. The award made at the end of the case is decided on the factors, with no arithmetic at all.
Use the state’s own words
Virginia calls it 'Maintenance and support of spouses' in the statutory captions, 'spousal support and maintenance' in the operative text. Va. Code 20-107.1 is captioned 'Court may decree as to maintenance and support of spouses'; Va. Code 20-109 is captioned 'Changing maintenance and support for a spouse; effect of stipulations as to maintenance and support for a spouse; cessation upon cohabitation, remarriage, or death; effect of retirement.' The word 'alimony' does not appear in either section.. Using the state’s own term matters when you are searching for forms or reading an order — the words are not interchangeable across state lines, and some of them mean different things in different places.
What the law actually says
The power the court has
What the judge has to weigh
How long it lasts
Duration
No bracket and no cap on the award itself. The statute gives the court three shapes to choose among under 20-107.1(C) – 'periodic payments for a defined duration, or in periodic payments for an undefined duration, or in a lump sum award, or in any combination thereof' – and defines the first, at 20-107.1(G), verbatim: 'For purposes of this section and s. 20-109, "date of separation" means the earliest date at which the parties are physically separated and at least one party intends such separation to be permanent provided the separation is continuous thereafter and "defined duration" means a period of time (i) with a specific beginning and ending date or (ii) specified in relation to the occurrence or cessation of an event or condition other than death or termination pursuant to s. 20-110.' Where Virginia does put a number on a period is the reservation of the right to seek support later. Va. Code 20-107.1(D), quoted verbatim in full: 'In addition to or in lieu of an award pursuant to subsection C, the court may reserve the right of a party to receive support in the future. In any case in which the right to support is so reserved, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the reservation will continue for a period equal to 50 percent of the length of time between the date of the marriage and the date of separation. Once granted, the duration of such a reservation shall not be subject to modification. Unless otherwise provided by stipulation or contract executed on or after July 1, 2020, or unless otherwise ordered by the court on or after July 1, 2020, a party seeking to exercise his right to support so reserved shall be required to prove a material change of circumstances as a prerequisite for the court to consider exercise of such reservation.'
Does behavior matter?
Marital misconduct
Virginia is one of the states where fault bars support outright, subject to an escape. Va. Code 20-107.1(B), quoted verbatim in full: 'Any maintenance and support shall be subject to the provisions of s. 20-109, and no permanent maintenance and support shall be awarded from a spouse if there exists in such spouse's favor a ground of divorce under the provisions of subdivision A (1) of s. 20-91. However, the court may make such an award notwithstanding the existence of such ground if the court determines from clear and convincing evidence, that a denial of support and maintenance would constitute a manifest injustice, based upon the respective degrees of fault during the marriage and the relative economic circumstances of the parties.' The ground referred to is Va. Code 20-91 A (1), quoted verbatim: 'For adultery that occurred prior to the date of the last separation of the parties; or for sodomy or buggery committed outside the marriage'. Fault is also a mandatory consideration in the factors, in the opening sentence of 20-107.1(E): the court 'shall consider the circumstances and factors which contributed to the dissolution of the marriage, specifically including adultery and any other ground for divorce under the provisions of subdivision A (3) or (6) of s. 20-91 or s. 20-95.' Sources: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title20/chapter6/section20-107.1/ and https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title20/chapter6/section20-91/
When it ends, and when it can change
What brings it to an end
Cohabitation, at Va. Code 20-109(A), second sentence, quoted verbatim: 'Upon order of the court based upon clear and convincing evidence that the spouse receiving support has been habitually cohabiting with another person in a relationship analogous to a marriage for one year or more commencing on or after July 1, 1997, the court shall terminate spousal support and maintenance unless (i) otherwise provided by stipulation or contract or (ii) the spouse receiving support proves by a preponderance of the evidence that termination of such support would be unconscionable.' Death and remarriage, at Va. Code 20-109(D), quoted verbatim in full: 'Unless otherwise provided by stipulation or contract, spousal support and maintenance shall terminate upon the death of either party or remarriage of the spouse receiving support. The spouse entitled to support shall have an affirmative duty to notify the payor spouse immediately of remarriage at the last known address of the payor spouse.' And separately, Va. Code 20-110, quoted verbatim in full: 'If any former spouse to whom support and maintenance has been awarded shall thereafter marry, such support and maintenance shall cease as of the date of such marriage. The spouse entitled to current support shall have an affirmative duty to notify the payor spouse immediately of such remarriage. Failure of such spouse to notify the payor shall entitle the payor to restitution equal to the amount of any current support and maintenance paid after the date of the remarriage, together with interest from the date of the remarriage and reasonable attorney's fees and costs.' Source: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title20/chapter6/section20-109/ and https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title20/chapter6/section20-110/
Changing it later
Va. Code 20-109(A), first sentence: 'Upon petition of either party the court may increase, decrease, or terminate the amount or duration of any spousal support and maintenance that may thereafter accrue, whether previously or hereafter awarded, as the circumstances may make proper.' For an award of defined duration, 20-109(B), quoted verbatim: 'The court may consider a modification of an award of spousal support for a defined duration upon petition of either party filed within the time covered by the duration of the award. Upon consideration of the factors set forth in subsection E of s. 20-107.1, the court may increase, decrease or terminate the amount or duration of the award upon finding that (i) there has been a material change in the circumstances of the parties, not reasonably in the contemplation of the parties when the award was made or (ii) an event which the court anticipated would occur during the duration of the award and which was significant in the making of the award, does not in fact occur through no fault of the party seeking the modification. The provisions of this subsection shall apply only to suits for initial spousal support orders filed on or after July 1, 1998, and suits for modification of spousal support orders arising from suits for initial support orders filed on or after July 1, 1998.' Virginia flipped the default on agreements in 2018. Va. Code 20-109(C), last sentence, quoted verbatim: 'No request for modification of spousal support based on a material change in circumstances or the terms of stipulation or contract shall be denied solely on the basis of the terms of any stipulation or contract that is executed on or after July 1, 2018, unless such stipulation or contract expressly states that the amount or duration of spousal support is non-modifiable.' Retirement is a material change as a matter of law. Va. Code 20-109(E), quoted verbatim in full: 'For purposes of the modification of an award of spousal support, and without precluding the ability of a party to otherwise file for a modification of spousal support based upon any other material change in circumstances, the payor spouse's attainment of full retirement age shall be considered a material change in circumstances. For the purposes of this subsection, "full retirement age" means the normal retirement age at which a person is eligible to receive full retirement benefits under the federal Social Security Act, but "full retirement age" does not mean "early retirement age" as defined under the federal Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. s. 416, as amended).' The court must then work through six named factors, Va. Code 20-109(F), quoted verbatim: 'In an action for the increase, decrease, or termination of spousal support based on the retirement of the payor spouse pursuant to subsection E, where the court finds that there has been a material change in circumstances, the court shall determine whether any modification or termination of such spousal support should be granted. In making such determination, the court may consider the factors set forth in subsection E of s. 20-107.1 and shall consider the following factors: 1. Whether retirement was contemplated by the court and specifically considered by the court when the spousal support was awarded; 2. Whether the retirement is mandatory or voluntary, and the terms and conditions related to such retirement; 3. Whether the retirement would result in a change in the income of either the payor or the payee spouse; 4. The age and health of the parties; 5. The duration and amount of spousal support already paid; and 6. The assets or property interest of each of the parties during the period from the date of the support order and up to the date of the hearing on modification or termination.'
Worth knowing about Virginia
Four. First, Virginia is a formula state and a no-formula state at the same time, and the line is the decree. The 26/58 and 27/50 percentages in Va. Code 20-103 carry a statutory presumption, but only for pendente lite support and only where combined monthly gross income does not exceed $10,000; and 20-103(J) says the pendente lite order 'shall have no presumptive effect and shall not be determinative when adjudicating the underlying cause.' A page that reports 'Virginia has a spousal support formula' without that limitation is reporting the temporary rule as if it were the permanent one. Second, adultery is still a bar to permanent support under 20-107.1(B), escapable only on clear and convincing evidence of manifest injustice weighed against 'the respective degrees of fault during the marriage and the relative economic circumstances of the parties.' Third, the reservation of the right to seek support later carries its own numeric presumption – 50 percent of the length of time between the date of the marriage and the date of separation – and once granted its duration cannot be modified. Fourth, Virginia legislated retirement directly: attaining full Social Security full retirement age is a material change as a matter of law, and 'full retirement age' expressly excludes early retirement age.
The tax rule changed, and most guides still describe the old one
For a divorce or separation instrument executed after 31 December 2018, alimony is not deductible by the person paying it and not taxable to the person receiving it. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act repealed the provisions that made it otherwise. For an instrument executed on or before that date the old treatment continues — deductible to the payer, taxable to the recipient — unless it is later modified and the modification expressly adopts the new rule.
This is not a detail. Under the old rule a higher-rate payer could transfer income to a lower-rate recipient and the two of them shared the saving. That saving no longer exists, which changes what a given number is worth to each side. New Hampshire wrote the point into its own statute: its 23 per cent figure assumes non-deductibility, and reverts to 30 per cent if the federal treatment is ever restored.
Alongside the federal rule, Virginia’s own income tax follows the federal treatment. That means the federal answer above is the whole answer here — no state adjustment for alimony either way. Four states do not — Arkansas, California, New Jersey and New York — so this is worth knowing rather than assuming. The fifty-state table.
Source: Va. Code § 58.1-301(B): ‘Any reference in this chapter to the laws of the United States relating to federal income taxes shall mean the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code… as they existed on December 31, 2025.’ the state source
The other number that decides your budget
How Virginia calculates child support, and the overnight count that moves it more than income does.
And the question underneath it
What Virginia presumes about custody, and what the judge has to weigh.