Will I have to Pay Alimony in Minnesota?

By Matt Majeski, Minnesota divorce and family law attorney since 2008. Last reviewed October 2026.

Short answer: It depends on one spouse’s need and the other’s ability to pay. Since August 1, 2024, Minnesota law presumes no alimony (spousal maintenance) after a marriage of less than 5 years. If maintenance is justified, it is presumed to last up to half the length of the marriage for marriages of 5 to 20 years, and to be indefinite for marriages of 20 years or more. Either spouse can argue for a different result.

Whether you’ll have to pay alimony can be a hard question to answer. In fact, alimony is often the most heated part of a divorce, and the hardest to predict. That’s because courts have wide discretion over whether you’ll pay, how much, and for how long.

That said, Minnesota law changed on August 1, 2024. Now, the length of your marriage plays a bigger role in setting expectations.

Alimony – Need and Ability to Pay

The legal term for alimony is spousal maintenance. Courts decide it in two steps.

Step 1: Need and Ability to Pay

First, the court asks whether one spouse has a need for support. Then it asks whether the other spouse has the ability to pay.

To answer these questions, courts usually compare each spouse’s income after the divorce to the standard of living during the marriage. Often, spouses disagree most about what that standard of living was.

If the court answers “yes” to both questions, it then decides how much maintenance to award each month, and for how long.

Alimony – Length and Amount

Step 2: Determine the Length and Amount of Alimony

Length of the marriage. Since August 1, 2024, Minnesota law sets presumptions based on how long you were married. The law measures this from the wedding date to the date the divorce case started (Minn. Stat. § 518.552, subd. 3):

• Less than 5 years: The law presumes no maintenance.
• 5 to less than 20 years: If maintenance is justified, the law presumes it’s transitional, lasting no longer than half the length of the marriage.
• 20 years or more: If maintenance is justified, the law presumes it’s indefinite.

However, these presumptions are rebuttable. That means either spouse can argue that a different result is fair.

Alimony – Factors the Court Weighs

Amount and other factors. Minnesota law requires the court to set maintenance in amounts and for periods it finds just, after considering all relevant factors (Minn. Stat. § 518.552, subd. 2). Marital misconduct doesn’t count. The factors include:

• The financial resources of the spouse seeking maintenance, including the marital property they receive, and their ability to meet their needs independently
• The time needed for the spouse seeking maintenance to get enough education or training to find appropriate employment, and how likely it is they’ll complete it and become fully or partly self-supporting
• The standard of living established during the marriage
• The length of the marriage and, for a homemaker, how long they’ve been out of the workforce and whether their skills and earning capacity have been permanently reduced
• Earnings, seniority, retirement benefits, and other job opportunities the spouse seeking maintenance gave up
• The age and the physical and emotional condition of the spouse seeking maintenance
• The ability of the paying spouse to meet their own needs while also paying maintenance
• Each spouse’s contribution to the marital property, including contributions as a homemaker or to the other spouse’s career or business

What It Means in a Divorce

Each side can argue about every one of these points, and in an alimony dispute, attorneys often do. These arguments depend heavily on the facts. A divorce attorney can help you see which factors are in play, what evidence to use, and how to argue each one. In the end, whether you pay alimony in Minnesota, and how much, may depend on it.

Also, if you already pay maintenance under an older order, the 2024 changes may matter to you. The law now treats “permanent” maintenance awarded before August 1, 2024, as indefinite maintenance. In addition, it lets you ask the court to modify maintenance before you retire. For more detail, see Alimony in Minnesota.

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