Spousal Support Advice for Entitlement, Income and Durable Outcomes
Current legal informationReviewed through July 2026This guide provides general information, not advice about a specific matter.
The first question is entitlement, not the calculator range
The Spousal Support Advisory Guidelines can estimate amount and duration after entitlement has been established. They do not create entitlement. A useful assessment begins with the relationship history: childcare and household roles, career decisions, economic disadvantage or advantage, need, agreements, separation arrangements and the other facts tied to compensatory, non-compensatory or contractual support.
An income difference may be important evidence, but it is not the legal test by itself. We help recipients connect a claim to the relationship and help payors distinguish a genuine support claim from a calculation that assumes the threshold question away.
Reliable income is often the real dispute
A support range can look precise while resting on the wrong incomes. Salary, bonuses, commissions, benefits, self-employment expenses, dividends, retained corporate earnings, shareholder loans, trusts, capital gains and income that changes sharply from year to year may require adjustment or further evidence.
Heather Fraese’s work is particularly suited to support claims that overlap with a private company or substantial family property. We separate business value from cash flow and support income rather than assuming they are the same number. The aim is a financial record that can be explained, tested and updated—not a broad demand for every business document ever created.
The SSAG range still requires judgment
The advisory formulas use different approaches depending on whether there are dependent children and concurrent child support. Relationship length, age, childcare responsibilities, property division, debt, illness, prior support obligations, tax treatment, self-sufficiency efforts and recognized exceptions can affect where a result falls within—or sometimes outside—the generated range.
Duration is not a promise that the same amount will continue unchanged. Indefinite support means no fixed end date; it does not mean permanent, unreviewable support. A practical proposal should say whether support is time-limited, reviewable or variable, and what event or evidence will activate the next step.
Illustrative calculationA calculation scenario is a starting point, not a settlement
Hypothetical only: spouses aged 40 and 38 earn $100,000 and $50,000, were together for ten years, have no dependent children and have an established basis for entitlement. Our calculator currently produces an estimated without-child-support range of about $625 to $833 monthly, with a midpoint near $729 and a duration range of five to ten years.
Before using that range in a proposal, ask what the incomes include, whether either person gave up an economic opportunity, whether property division addresses part of the disadvantage, whether an SSAG exception may apply and how support will be reviewed if income changes. The calculator organizes the discussion; it does not finish it.
Agreements should explain how support will work later
A support clause needs more than a monthly number. It should address the start date, payment method, tax treatment where applicable, annual disclosure, income adjustments, arrears or overpayments, review events, termination events, life insurance where relevant, and the process for resolving the next disagreement.
Broad wording such as “support will be reviewed annually” leaves unanswered who must disclose what, by when, and what happens after the new calculation. We draft the administration around the result so a settlement is less likely to generate the same dispute the following year.
When an existing result needs to change
A new income, retirement, disability, changed childcare responsibility, remarriage, repartnering or the expiry of a review term does not automatically rewrite an order or agreement. The governing document, the legal basis of the original award and the nature of the change determine whether variation or review is available.
Bring the original agreement or order, the evidence used when it was made, all review clauses, payment history and the documents showing what changed. That lets us assess whether the real issue is entitlement, quantum, duration, interpretation, enforcement or implementation.
Sources used for this guidePrimary legal and court resources
Laws, court procedures and the application of legal tests can change. Obtain advice about the facts, deadlines and documents in your matter.
