Missouri sets no minimum length of marriage for alimony. There is no rule at 5 years or 10, and length is only one of ten things the judge weighs. A court can award it after a short marriage and refuse it after a long one.
No one can tell you a dollar figure from a formula, because Missouri does not have one. Some online tools quote a rough “one year of support for every three years of marriage.” That ratio appears nowhere in the law, and no Missouri judge is bound by it.
Start with the property split, before income. Missouri sets aside separate property first, then divides marital property “equitably” under Section 452.330, which is not always an equal split. Commingling alone does not turn separate property into marital property.
Kansas is not the same. Filing the case turns all of both spouses’ property, not just what was built as a couple, into one marital pool (K.S.A. 23-2801).
A court then weighs the time, source and manner each asset was acquired, under K.S.A. 23-2802. Either way, what you end up owning decides more support questions than income does.
The word Missouri uses is maintenance
Alimony is the everyday word. Spousal support is the polite one. Maintenance is the word in the statute, and it is what you will see on each document in your case.
Missouri sets it out in Section 452.335. It was first enacted with the 1973 no-fault reform, and it has stood in its current form since 1988.
Kansas uses the same word in K.S.A. 23-2902, part of the family law code it rewrote in 2011.
The two tests are not the same. Missouri asks two threshold questions before amount is even discussed. Kansas skips that step and asks only whether an award is “fair, just and equitable under all of the circumstances.”
Missouri’s Chapter 452 is still titled “Dissolution of Marriage, Divorce, Alimony and Separate Maintenance.” That title is a holdover from the fault-based divorce Missouri used before 1973.
The 1973 reform brought today’s no-fault system. The modern action is legal separation (Section 452.305), not separate maintenance.
A Kansas court can grant separate maintenance instead of divorce. The marriage stays intact, but the court still divides property and orders support.
A judge cannot grant a divorce over your objection if you asked for separate maintenance instead. Both run on the same three grounds, under K.S.A. 23-2701:
- Incompatibility
- Failure to perform a material marital duty
- Incompatibility from mental illness or incapacity
Two gates before a judge reaches the amount
Maintenance is not automatic, and unlike child support it is not a right. Either spouse can ask for it, in both states. You also cannot ask before there is a case to ask in.
Missouri requires 90 days of residency and a 30-day wait for the decree. Kansas requires 60 and 60. Once the case is open, two questions come first.
- Can you support yourself from your own assets and income? That includes property you receive in the settlement. If yes, it stops there.
- Can you support yourself through work? If you can reasonably be expected to work, maintenance is unlikely. If you care for a child whose needs rule out work, that changes it.
Both have to point the same way before amount is even discussed. This is where most claims end.
What the judge weighs
A Missouri judge weighs ten factors under Section 452.335. They are:
- What the person asking has, with their share of the property split
- How long that person would need to study or train to find work
- What each of you can earn, side by side
- How you lived during the marriage
- What each of you owns and owes, with any separate property
- How long you were married
- The age, and physical and emotional health, of the person asking
- Whether the person paying can meet their own needs while paying
- Conduct during the marriage
- Any other fact that matters
No formula, no percent, no table. In re Marriage of Powers (1975) discusses these factors at length.
Conduct matters less than people expect. It is one factor among ten, and it seldom decides the outcome alone. The same conduct can affect the property split too, under RSMo 452.330.1(4).
“Reasonable needs” is not your old way of life. Missouri courts have held it does not always mean your marital standard of living.
The spouse seeking support also has a duty to look for work (Brueggemann v. Brueggemann, 1977).
If you think the number is wrong, know the appeal standard. Missouri reverses a maintenance award only for an abuse of discretion (see Beckman v. Beckman, 1976).
A court also cannot order an award that drops on a set pattern. That kind of “stairstepped” order is reversed if it rests on a guess, not proof (In re Marriage of Cornell, 1977).
How long it lasts, and the Kansas difference
Missouri can order it for a fixed period, until a set event, or with no end date at all. An award with no end date is rare. It is mostly kept for a long marriage where one spouse has no route back to work.
Under RSMo 452.370, future statutory maintenance ends on its own when either spouse dies or the payee marries again. A written agreement or the judgment can say otherwise.
Kansas does not work that way. Under K.S.A. 23-2904, a court cannot award maintenance for more than 121 months, about ten years and a month.
The spouses can agree to a longer term in a settlement agreement. The decree can also reserve the power to reinstate maintenance for another period. The payee has to file before the current period ends, and can ask again before each later one ends.
The Kansas statute also lets the decree set when payments change or end. So read a Kansas order for exactly what ends the payments.
Johnson County’s bar publishes its own guideline for marriages under 25 years. Roughly a quarter of the income gap, or a fifth with child support, for about a third of the marriage’s length. A guide, not a statute.
While the case is pending, and how payments move
While a Missouri case is open, either spouse can ask for temporary maintenance by motion and affidavit (Section 452.315). The same motion can ask for a temporary injunction. There is no need to wait for final judgment, and the other side has 10 days to answer.
The order ends on its own once judgment is entered or the case is dismissed.
Support is not always a monthly check. Kansas allows:
- A lump sum
- Ongoing payments
- A share of earnings
- Any other basis the decree sets
Missouri has long allowed a lump-sum award too, called “maintenance in gross” (Miller v. Miller and Carr v. Carr, both 1977).
Once payments start, the rules differ:
- Kansas, under K.S.A. 23-2905, routes maintenance through the state’s central collection unit, not spouse to spouse. Both can agree in writing to pay each other. If the same person also owes child support, both are paid the same way.
- Missouri, under RSMo 452.345, can route a stalled payment through the circuit clerk as trustee. The clerk must forward it within 3 working days. The court can also order the employer to withhold it from a paycheck (Section 452.350).
- Neither state allows self-help. Under K.S.A. 23-2717, missed payments do not excuse the other spouse’s own duties in Kansas. The fix in either state is a motion to the court, not holding back your side of the bargain.
- Missouri protects some property from creditors, but not from a maintenance order. RSMo 513.430 carves that claim out. Even a life insurance policy’s cash value loses its usual exemption against a support claim.
Modifiable or not, and why it is the most important word in the order
Every Missouri maintenance order must say whether it is modifiable or non-modifiable (Section 452.335).
Modifiable maintenance can be lowered, raised, extended or ended later, on a substantial and continuing change. Examples: a big drop in income, a disability, or a large rise in the payee’s earnings.
Under RSMo 452.370, the change has to be big enough to make the current amount unreasonable. The spouse asking has to prove it.
A drop in the payer’s income can be enough, but only if it makes the terms unreasonable (Adams v. Adams, 2001).
Retirement is not an automatic reason either. In Stine v. Stine (2013), a lawyer’s failing health and a 56% drop in income cut his payments from $1,750 to $50 a month.
Missouri adds two more rules:
- A court also weighs whether either spouse’s expenses are now shared with a new spouse or cohabitant.
- Non-modifiable means never, once an order or settlement says so in plain words. It does not matter who loses a job or earns more.
Kansas runs on its own rules:
- Under K.S.A. 23-2903, a court can change payments that are not yet due. It cannot raise or speed up the unpaid amount beyond the decree without the payer’s consent.
- A change can reach back only to a date at least one month after the motion was filed.
- Couples can lock terms in early. Under K.S.A. 23-2712, once a valid separation agreement is in the decree, its maintenance terms cannot be changed. The two exceptions: the agreement allows it, or both parties later consent. An agreement left out of the decree stays open to change.
Couples can write their own cohabitation cutoff into a Kansas agreement, and the exact words matter.
In In re Marriage of Santee (2018), the agreement ended maintenance on cohabitation with a nonrelative in a “marital like relationship.” The court held that dating, sleepovers and a garage opener were not enough.
The couple did not live together, never mixed their money and did not present themselves as married.
Either side may want non-modifiable, each for its own reason. The payer knows the ceiling, and the payee knows it will not be cut. Neither gets a second chance.
Four federal rules that apply no matter which state you are in
If your agreement was signed before 2019, the paying spouse deducts maintenance. The payee reports it as income. Both go on Schedule 1 of Form 1040.
Signed in 2019 or later, under the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, neither is true. No deduction, no tax owed. An older agreement falls under the new rule only if it is changed later and the change says so.
A maintenance debt cannot be wiped out in bankruptcy either. Domestic support obligations are non-dischargeable under federal law.
Social Security pays a divorced spouse’s benefit only if the marriage lasted at least 10 years, wedding date to final divorce date. The amount can reach up to 50% of the ex’s own benefit while they are alive. It can reach up to 100% after their death.
Health coverage through an ex’s job can last under federal COBRA law. It runs 36 months, at full premium plus 2%, on the same group plan. It only applies if the plan is told within 60 days after the divorce is final.
When this is not your question
If child support is what you need, this page is not for you. That is a separate question and follows Form 14, while maintenance follows the judge with no formula. People mix the two up and budget wrong.
Unmarried couples are also outside this page. Both states tie maintenance to marriage, so living together for years does not create a claim.
What helps your position
Your papers make the case:
- Three years of tax returns, both of you, and each W-2 or 1099.
- A real monthly budget, built from bank records, not memory. Judges see hopeful budgets daily and mark them down.
- Proof of what you can earn. Degrees, lapsed licenses, years out of work, what new training would cost and how long it takes.
- Medical records if an illness limits what you can earn.
- What the property split gave you. Factor one is what you own after, so the split and this question are one deal, not two.
Common questions
How long do you have to be married to get alimony in Missouri?
There is no minimum. It is only one of ten factors a judge weighs.
How is alimony calculated in Missouri?
Alimony is not calculated. There is no formula, no percent, and no “years divided by three” rule.
Is Missouri an alimony state?
Yes, though the statute calls it maintenance. You have to ask for it, and show you cannot meet your own needs.
How long does maintenance last in Kansas?
A court cannot award more than 121 months. Missouri has no cap.
Is alimony taxable in Missouri or Kansas?
The signing date decides this, not the state, because it is federal law. Before 2019, the payer deducts it and the payee pays tax on it. In 2019 or later, neither applies.
What happens to maintenance if my ex remarries or dies?
In Missouri, statutory maintenance ends on its own on either event. A written agreement or the judgment can say otherwise. In Kansas, the decree sets what ends the payments.
Can alimony be changed later?
Only if the order is modifiable. The change must be substantial and continuing, and the asking spouse must prove it.
Can I get alimony and child support?
Yes, they are separate. Child support follows a set sum, while maintenance follows the judge.
Does cheating affect alimony in Missouri?
Yes, it can. It is one of the ten factors, but it seldom decides the outcome alone.
Can I ask for maintenance after the divorce is final?
In most cases, no. It has to be raised in the divorce itself, or there is seldom a route back.
Working out where you stand
Bring three years of tax returns, a real monthly budget, and a rough picture of the property split. That is often enough to say whether a claim makes sense.
If an order already exists, bring the decree. Check whether it says modifiable. That single word decides whether there is anything to discuss.
The first call is free. A contested claim moves at the divorce’s pace, months rather than weeks. A motion to change an order is quicker and cheaper.
Missouri can order attorney fees under RSMo 452.355, weighing both parties’ finances and how each behaved in the case.
Kansas awards them under K.S.A. 23-2715, “as justice and equity require,” and can order payment straight to the attorney. Cost alone should not decide whether you bring the claim.
General rules only, for Missouri and Kansas. The facts change the answer, so nothing here is legal advice about your case and no outcome is promised. Talk to a lawyer about your own situation before you decide anything.
I am a family law associate at Hale Robinson & Robinson. The firm’s page for Sydney Garcia covers my background. If you want someone to act, our family law attorneys in Kansas City handle maintenance on both sides of the state line.
Both credentials sit with third parties, so look them up. Kansas City Magazine‘s Best of Kansas City 2021 competition gave the firm the win in the Best Law Firm/Lawyer category. The BBB serving Greater Kansas City holds its BBB Accredited Business record at A+, dating from August 2021.
There is no charge for the first conversation. Tell us your situation, or call 816-605-1734. Expect an answer from one of our family lawyers within 24 hours.
