Wisconsin has no formula for maintenance — the state's term for alimony. Judges weigh 10 statutory factors under Wis. Stat. § 767.56(1c). For longer marriages, courts often start from an income equalization benchmark before adjusting for the specific facts. There is no guaranteed award, and the amount and duration are ultimately left to judicial discretion.
If you're going through a divorce in Wisconsin and searching for what maintenance — Wisconsin's legal term for alimony — might look like for you, the short answer is: it depends on 10 factors, and there's no formula that spits out an exact number. That can feel frustrating, but understanding how courts approach the decision helps you form realistic expectations.
Wisconsin judges have broad discretion when deciding whether maintenance is appropriate, how much it should be, and how long it should last. Unlike child support, which follows a fixed percentage-of-income formula, maintenance in Wisconsin is built around case-by-case judgment — guided by a starting principle from case law and a list of factors set out in the statute.
- Why Wisconsin has no maintenance formula, and the income equalization starting point courts use instead
- The 10 statutory factors under Wis. Stat. § 767.56(1c)
- The informal income-gap guideline practitioners use to estimate amount
- How long maintenance typically lasts, including the rule for long marriages
- Temporary maintenance during the divorce vs. the final order
- The Wisconsin remarriage rule — and how it differs from many other states
- How cohabitation can affect an existing maintenance order
- Tax treatment for divorces finalized after 2018
- What tends to disqualify someone from receiving maintenance
- A worked example putting the numbers together
Wisconsin Has No Maintenance Formula — But Courts Start From a Benchmark
Wis. Stat. § 767.56(1c) governs maintenance in Wisconsin. It lists 10 factors for judges to weigh but provides no mathematical formula. Instead, Wisconsin courts work from a principle established in case law: in Johnson v. Johnson (1999), the Wisconsin Court of Appeals held that bringing both spouses' incomes closer to equal can serve as a reasonable starting point for discussion — not an automatic 50/50 split of income, but a lens for thinking about fairness, especially in longer marriages.
For marriages that stretch past roughly 20 years, some Wisconsin courts also reference what's known as the LaRocque framework, from a separate Wisconsin Supreme Court case, which can support a more complete equalization of incomes between the spouses. Neither of these principles is a binding formula — they're starting points that judges use before applying the full set of statutory factors to the specific marriage in front of them.
The practical effect is that Wisconsin sits somewhere between states with a hard formula (like Illinois) and states with pure judicial discretion and no case-law benchmark at all (like Georgia). There's a recognized starting concept — income equalization — but how a judge applies it to your specific marriage still depends heavily on the 10 statutory factors. For a look at how property division works alongside maintenance in Wisconsin, see the Wisconsin divorce finances overview.
The 10 Statutory Factors Wisconsin Courts Must Weigh
Under Wis. Stat. § 767.56(1c), Wisconsin courts consider 10 factors before setting a maintenance award. No single factor controls the outcome — a judge looks at the full picture.
| Factor | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Length of the marriage | Longer marriages generally support larger and longer awards |
| Property division outcome | What each spouse walks away with in assets affects the need for ongoing support |
| Age and health of each spouse | Physical and emotional health can limit a spouse's ability to become self-supporting |
| Education level (start and end of marriage) | Considers whether a spouse's education stalled or advanced during the marriage |
| Earning capacity of the requesting spouse | Looks at realistic future earning potential, not just current income |
| Contribution to the other spouse's earning power | Credits a spouse who supported the other's education, training, or career |
| Ability to reach a comparable standard of living | Whether the requesting spouse can become self-supporting at a similar lifestyle level |
| Prior agreements about support | Any existing agreements between the spouses about financial support |
| Tax consequences | How maintenance affects each spouse's tax situation |
| Other relevant factors | A catch-all allowing the court to weigh anything else it finds relevant to fairness |
Notably absent from this list: marital fault. Wisconsin is a no-fault divorce state, and misconduct like adultery generally isn't part of the statutory maintenance analysis, unlike in some other states.
How Much Maintenance Might Look Like — the Income Guideline
Because Wisconsin has no binding formula, attorneys and courts commonly reference an informal guideline for marriages of roughly 10 years or longer: maintenance estimates often fall somewhere in the range of 25%–33% of the income gap between the spouses, with some cases falling as low as 20% or as high as 40% depending on the facts. This is not written into the statute — it's a practitioner shorthand drawn from how Wisconsin courts have historically applied the income equalization principle.
Suppose two people are divorcing after a 16-year marriage. Spouse A earns $7,500 per month. Spouse B reduced work hours for 10 years to manage the household and raise the couple's children, and currently earns $2,800 per month. The income gap is $4,700 per month.
Applying the informal 25%–33% guideline to that gap produces a rough estimate of $1,175–$1,551 per month. A judge weighing the full set of 10 statutory factors — Spouse B's diminished earning capacity, the length of the marriage, the property division outcome, and each spouse's age and health — might land within that range, above it, or below it. This example is illustrative only and does not predict any actual outcome.
How Long Maintenance Typically Lasts
Wisconsin has no statutory duration formula either. A commonly referenced practitioner guideline suggests roughly one year of maintenance for every three years of marriage — so a 15-year marriage might point toward about 5 years of support, and a 21-year marriage toward about 7 years. Courts are not required to follow this guideline, and many depart from it based on health, career trajectory, or the property split.
| Marriage Length | How Courts Generally Approach Duration |
|---|---|
| Under 5 years | Maintenance is less common; courts weigh whether it's appropriate at all |
| 5–15 years | Term-limited maintenance is common, often tied roughly to a portion of the marriage length |
| 15–20 years | Longer support periods become more common; earning capacity and health weigh heavily |
| 20+ years | Courts have discretion to consider extended or ongoing maintenance; the LaRocque income equalization framework may apply |
For marriages past the 20-year mark, some Wisconsin courts lean toward more complete income equalization rather than a term-limited award, particularly where one spouse has little realistic path to closing the earnings gap. Even then, maintenance set this way remains subject to modification if circumstances change materially. For a broader look at how alimony duration is typically handled across states, see How Long Do I Have to Pay Alimony?
Temporary Maintenance vs. the Final Order
Wisconsin courts can award temporary maintenance while a divorce case is still pending, separate from whatever the final judgment ultimately decides. Temporary orders are meant to keep both households financially stable during the proceedings — covering bills, housing, and legal costs while the case works through court. Temporary maintenance ends automatically once the divorce is finalized, and it does not predict what the final order will look like; the two are separate decisions.
In the final judgment, Wisconsin maintenance is typically set either for a defined term — with an end date tied to a self-sufficiency goal like finishing a degree or re-entering the workforce — or, less commonly for long marriages, without a fixed end date, subject to future modification. Wisconsin's statute doesn't use formal labels like "rehabilitative" or "permanent" the way some other states do, but the underlying concepts are similar: shorter marriages tend to produce term-limited support aimed at helping a spouse become self-supporting, while long marriages with a significant, lasting income gap can produce longer or open-ended support.
The Wisconsin Remarriage Rule — Automatic Termination
This is one of the most important Wisconsin-specific rules to understand. Under Wis. Stat. § 767.56(2c), maintenance terminates automatically when the receiving spouse remarries, unless the divorce judgment specifically says otherwise. Maintenance also ends automatically if either spouse dies.
Cohabitation and Modifying Maintenance
Unlike remarriage, cohabitation — the receiving spouse moving in with a new partner without marrying — does not automatically end maintenance in Wisconsin. But it can be grounds for modification. Under principles from Taake v. Taake, a Wisconsin case addressing this issue, the paying spouse can petition the court to reduce or terminate maintenance by showing that the cohabitation has substantially changed the receiving spouse's financial needs — for example, if the new partner is contributing to shared household expenses.
More broadly, either spouse can petition to modify maintenance under Wis. Stat. § 767.59 by showing a substantial change in circumstances since the original order — job loss, a significant income change, retirement, or a serious illness are common examples courts consider.
Tax Treatment: What Changed in 2018
For divorces finalized on or after January 1, 2019, maintenance payments are not deductible by the paying spouse and are not counted as taxable income by the receiving spouse — both federally and for Wisconsin state income tax purposes. This is a result of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
For more on how divorce affects your broader tax picture, see Divorce and Taxes: What You Need to Know.
What Disqualifies You From Maintenance in Wisconsin
Wisconsin has no hard list of automatic disqualifiers — the decision is always discretionary. But certain circumstances make an award significantly less likely or can reduce its size and duration.
Comparable incomes. If both spouses earn similar amounts and neither has diminished earning capacity, courts are unlikely to award meaningful maintenance. The purpose of maintenance is to address an imbalance created or reinforced by the marriage — where no real imbalance exists, the case for support is weak.
Short marriage length. Marriages under about 5 years rarely produce substantial maintenance awards in Wisconsin, especially absent a significant income gap or health-related factor.
Full earning capacity. A spouse with a marketable degree, recent full-time work experience, and no marriage-related career interruption is less likely to receive support, even if they currently earn less than the other spouse.
A property division that already covers the need. If the requesting spouse receives substantial income-producing assets — retirement accounts, investment property, a paid-off home — in the property settlement, a court may find that ongoing maintenance is less necessary.
Remarriage or cohabitation after the award. Once maintenance is in place, remarriage ends it automatically under Wisconsin's default rule, and cohabitation can support a modification if the paying spouse shows a substantial change in the receiving spouse's financial circumstances.
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