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Flannel People Mediation · The Spousal Support System

The spousal support worksheet

Minnesota has no formula for the amount of spousal maintenance. Five other states' legislatures do. This puts your numbers through all five so you can see where they land before you choose your own.

1Your incomes, expenses, and proposed number2What five states calculate3Right-size your number
1

Your numbers

Annual incomes, monthly expenses after the divorce, and the monthly support each of you would propose right now. Write the proposal before looking at step 2. This is a sample. Jordan and Casey are made up, and nothing on this page can be changed.

2

What five states would calculate

Each state's legislature wrote its own formula. The formula, your numbers in it, and the result, per month. No Minnesota court applies any of these. They are reference points, not predictions.

Based on gross income, Jordan would be the one paying and Casey the one receiving.

IllinoisGuideline

33⅓% of the payer’s take-home minus 25% of the receiver’s take-home. The receiver’s total can’t go above 40% of the couple’s combined take-home.

33⅓% × $7,500 − 25% × $2,750 = $1,813
Limit: 40% × $10,250 − $2,750 = $1,350
Result: the lower of the two
Per month$1,350

ColoradoAdvisory only

40% of combined adjusted gross income minus the lower earner’s, then reduced to 80% (combined up to $10,000 a month) or 75% (above that).

40% × $12,417 − $3,083 = $1,883
× 75% = $1,413
Per month$1,413

MassachusettsCeiling

Generally no more than 30–35% of the difference in gross incomes, or the receiver’s need, whichever is less. Middle of the range shown.

30–35% × $6,667 difference = $2,000–$2,333 (middle $2,167)
Need: $4,800 expenses − $2,750 take-home = $2,050
Result: the lower of the two
Per month$2,050

FloridaCap · time-limited

The receiver’s need or 35% of the difference in take-home incomes, whichever is less. Florida no longer has permanent alimony.

35% × $4,750 difference = $1,663
Need: $4,800 expenses − $2,750 take-home = $2,050
Result: the lower of the two
Per month$1,663

New YorkGuideline

30% of the payer’s gross minus 20% of the receiver’s, or 40% of combined gross minus the receiver’s, whichever is lower. Payer income counts up to $241,000.

30% × $10,000 − 20% × $3,333 = $2,333
40% × $13,333 − $3,333 = $2,000
Result: the lower of the two
Per month$2,000
Lowest$1,350
Middle$1,663
Highest$2,050
$0$1,495$2,990

States: IL $1,350 · CO $1,413 · MA $2,050 · FL $1,663 · NY $2,000

5 of 5 states apply to these numbers. Your proposals are marked in rust.

3

Right-size your number

First, look at your own number the way a neutral would. Then try a monthly figure and see what it does to both households. Support after 2018 is not deductible and not taxable, so every dollar moves from one take-home to the other.

First · the neutral's read

Picture an independent, neutral third party reading your number.

Someone who doesn't know either of you and wants a fair result for both. They've seen the five states above. What would they point to in your proposal? Write it down. Then write your number again.

Jordan moved up $300, from $1,200 to $1,500. Casey moved down $400, from $2,600 to $2,200. The gap between you went from $1,400 to $700.

Why this step is here
  • Listing your own weak points is what closes the gap. In a simulated $100,000 lawsuit, 35% of negotiating pairs failed to settle. When each side first wrote down the weaknesses in its own case, 4% failed. Simply telling people about the bias did nothing. Babcock, Loewenstein & Issacharoff (1997), Law & Social Inquiry 22.
  • Considering the other side beats trying to be fair. Asking people to consider the opposite reduced biased judgment more than asking them to be fair and unbiased. Lord, Lepper & Preston (1984), Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 47(6).
  • A neutral's view lowers the heat. Married couples who spent 21 minutes over a year writing about their conflicts from the view of a neutral third party who wants the best for everyone stopped the decline in marital quality the other couples kept showing. Finkel, Slotter, Luchies, Walton & Gross (2013), Psychological Science 24(8).

The first study used student negotiators in a role-play; the third studied couples staying married. None tested divorcing spouses directly. They point the same way.

Then · test a number

$0$1,495$2,990

States: IL $1,350 · CO $1,413 · MA $2,050 · FL $1,663 · NY $2,000

$1,800 a month is inside the range: at or above 3 of 5 states. That is $600 more than what Jordan proposed ($1,200) and $800 less than what Casey proposed ($2,600).

HouseholdTake-homeSupportAfter supportExpensesLeft over
Jordan pays$7,500−$1,800$5,700$5,200$500
Casey receives$2,750+$1,800$4,550$4,800−$250

Share of the combined take-home after support: Jordan 55.6%, Casey 44.4%.

5 to 20 years: Minnesota presumes transitional maintenance for no longer than half the marriage — here, up to 7 years. These presumptions apply only if Minnesota’s factors support maintenance in the first place, and every one of them can be rebutted. Duration is Minnesota’s own rule; the five states above are used for amount only.

A psychological tool, used for anchoring purposes only. These figures are not what a Minnesota court, or any court, judge, or judicial officer, would order. This worksheet supports a mediation. It is not legal advice, does not predict what a court would order, and recommends no number. Formulas checked against each state's statute on August 31, 2026: 750 ILCS 5/504(b-1) · C.R.S. § 14-10-114(3) · M.G.L. c. 208 § 53(b) · Fla. Stat. § 61.08 · N.Y. Dom. Rel. Law § 236(B)(6) · Minn. Stat. § 518.552 subd. 3. Take your numbers to your own attorneys before agreeing to anything.