GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
The first thing to know is that there is no formula.
Connecticut has guidelines for child support that produce a number. It has nothing equivalent for alimony. Every online alimony calculator you find is predicting what a judge might do, not applying a rule.
Under C.G.S. §46b-82, the court considers the length of the marriage, the causes of the breakdown, and each spouse’s age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income, earning capacity, vocational skills, education, employability, estate, and needs. Where one parent has custody of minor children, the court also considers whether it is desirable for that parent to work.
The court also considers the property division it has made, so alimony and property are decided together rather than separately.
Fault matters here. “The causes for the dissolution” is a statutory factor, which means conduct that ended the marriage can affect an alimony award in Connecticut in a way it cannot in many states. It does not mean a betrayed spouse is automatically paid more.
Periodic— paid at regular intervals, for a term or until a terminating event.
Lump sum— a fixed amount, which functions more like a property award and is generally not modifiable.
Rehabilitative— time-limited support while a spouse retrains, finishes a degree, or re-enters the workforce.
Pendente lite— temporary support while the divorce is pending, under C.G.S. §46b-83.
This is decided in the judgment, and it is one of the most consequential paragraphs in the document.
A judgment can make alimony non-modifiable as to amount, duration, or both. If it does, a later change in circumstances generally will not reopen it, however dramatic — a job loss, an illness, a windfall.
Where alimony is modifiable, it can be changed on a substantial change in circumstances. There is also a separate route: under C.G.S. §46b-86(b), a court may modify, suspend, reduce, or terminate alimony where the recipient is living with another person and that arrangement has altered their financial needs.
For divorce or separation instruments executed after December 31, 2018, alimony is not deductible by the person paying and not taxable to the person receiving. The trigger is the date the instrument was executed, not the date a divorce was finalized. Older instruments follow the prior treatment unless they were modified to adopt the new rule expressly. Connecticut starts from federal adjusted gross income, so the state treatment follows the federal one. This changed the math substantially and is worth confirming against your own situation.
Because there is no formula, two outcomes follow. Predictions are ranges rather than numbers, and anyone offering you certainty early is guessing. And preparation matters more than it would under a formula — the evidence about earning capacity, needs, and the history of the marriage is what the decision rests on.
Whether Connecticut alimony can be changed depends first on what the judgment says. Non-modifiable means non-modifiable.
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Living with a new partner does not automatically end alimony in Connecticut. What C.G.S. §46b-86(b) actually requires, for payers and recipients.
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Connecticut divorce attorney Daniel M. Morton explains property division, alimony, and the process in the Hartford Judicial District. Glastonbury office.
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Every case starts with a conversation about what you’re facing and what it would take to handle it.
