Spousal maintenance is the part of a Washington divorce with no formula, and most of what’s online about it is another state’s law or a guess. This post is part of a series answering the questions our clients ask when one spouse has been the earner and the other has not.
There’s no formula. How spousal maintenance is decided in Washington comes down to a judge weighing six factors listed in RCW 26.09.090 and reaching an amount and a duration that are “just.” No percentage of income, no chart of years, and no requirement that you first prove you can’t survive without it. That surprises people who’ve read about other states, and it means the evidence you put in front of the court matters more than any rule of thumb.
The statute
RCW 26.09.090 says the court “may grant a maintenance order for either spouse” in “such amounts and for such periods of time as the court deems just, without regard to misconduct, after considering all relevant factors including but not limited to” six listed ones. Three things in that sentence do a lot of work. “May” means maintenance is discretionary, not automatic. “Without regard to misconduct” means an affair or a bad temper doesn’t raise or lower the number. And “including but not limited to” means the six factors are a floor. The court can consider anything relevant.
The six factors, and what proves each one
Your financial resources and your ability to meet your needs
This includes the property you’re getting in the divorce. The evidence is your Financial Declaration, your account statements, and the proposed property division. If you’re receiving a house with equity and half a retirement account, the court counts that. If the assets are modest and mostly illiquid, say so.
The time you’d need for education or training
“Appropriate work” means work suited to your skills, interests, and the life you’ve lived, not any job. The evidence is concrete. For example, a program you’ve looked into, its cost and length, what the credential pays. A vocational evaluation is often worth the cost in a long-marriage case. An expert assesses what you could realistically earn and how long it would take.
The standard of living during the marriage
That means what the household actually spent, which is a different question from what you’d need to survive. Twelve months of bank and credit card statements sorted into categories is the best evidence there is. A spouse who can show the marriage spent $11,000 a month has a different case from one who can only say “we were comfortable.”
How long the marriage lasted
The court counts the legal marriage, not how happy it was. A marriage that was unhappy for its last ten years is still a long marriage. The longer the marriage, the more the court leans toward maintenance that lasts and brings the two households closer together.
Your age, health, and financial obligations
A 58-year-old with a health condition and no work history in 25 years is a different case from a 34-year-old with a recent degree. Medical records, if health is a factor, and a candid account of what you can and can’t do.
Your spouse’s ability to pay while meeting their own needs
This is the other side of the ledger. Your spouse’s income from tax returns and pay stubs, and their actual expenses. If your spouse owns a business, the salary line isn’t the income; the business’s cash flow is. A request that leaves your spouse unable to cover their own housing will be cut. So show that your number works for both households.
What the courts have added
The only limit is that the award be just
The Washington Supreme Court said so in 1984 and has repeated it since. In re Marriage of Washburn, 101 Wn.2d 168, 178 (1984). Maintenance is “a flexible tool by which the parties’ standard of living may be equalized for an appropriate period of time.” Washburn, 101 Wn.2d at 179.
You don’t have to prove need first
Older cases said maintenance was “governed strongly by the need of one party and the ability of the other party to pay.” In re Marriage of Foley, 84 Wn. App. 839, 845-46 (1997). Paying spouses argued that a recipient who could cover the basics was disqualified. In 2024 the Supreme Court rejected that. The court must consider need along with the other factors. But a finding of need “is not a prerequisite to a maintenance award.” In re Marriage of Wilcox, 3 Wn.3d 507 (2024). Some older Washington cases you’ll find online, and some lawyers’ habits, haven’t caught up.
Being able to support yourself doesn’t disqualify you
“A demonstrated capacity of self-support does not automatically preclude an award of maintenance.” Washburn, 101 Wn.2d at 178. The question is the gap between the two households, not whether you’d starve.
Property and maintenance are decided together
The court “may properly consider the property division when determining maintenance, and may consider maintenance in making an equitable division of the property.” In re Marriage of Estes, 84 Wn. App. 586, 593 (1997). A judge can give you more property instead of maintenance, or maintenance on top of an equal division, or a mix. The judge can’t give you an asset as property and then order maintenance paid out of the same asset.
Earning capacity counts, in both directions
A paying spouse can’t quit or cut their own pay to lower the number. The cases say “a party cannot voluntarily reduce income just to avoid maintenance payments.” In re Marriage of Palomarez, 15 Wn. App. 2d 187 (2020). On the receiving side, the court considers what you could earn with reasonable effort. But a long-term homemaker isn’t treated as “voluntarily unemployed” just because the marriage ended. In re Marriage of Kaplan, 4 Wn. App. 2d 466 (2018). That ruling was about imputing income for child support, where the court is more willing to impute; the reasoning carries over to maintenance.
How spousal maintenance is decided in a courtroom
A judge doesn’t run the six factors through a spreadsheet. The judge listens to both spouses describe the marriage and its finances. The judge reads the Financial Declarations and the tax returns. Then come two numbers: how much, and for how long. The judge doesn’t have to make a finding on every factor. Appellate courts review the result for abuse of discretion. A trial judge’s decision stands unless no reasonable judge would have reached it. That’s a wide range.
What moves the numbers inside that range is evidence. Documented spending beats adjectives. A vocational plan beats “I’d like to go back to school.” Your spouse’s actual cash flow beats their salary. A proposal that leaves both households able to function beats a demand that leaves one of them broke. A judge who has to choose between two unreasonable positions will pick something in the middle. Nobody will like it.
The mistake people make
Building the case around fault. The paying spouse had an affair, or drank, or was cruel. It’s understandable to want the court to know. The statute says the court decides maintenance “without regard to misconduct.” A declaration that spends 15 of its 25 pages on the affair has spent them on something the judge is required to ignore. Instead, put that space into the standard of living and the income gap instead.
Two things you can do now
Sort twelve months of statements into a monthly budget. This single document is your standard-of-living evidence, your Financial Declaration, and your answer to the first factor.
Get a realistic picture of your own earning path. What you could do now, what you’d need to do more, how long it would take, what it would cost. If the answer is that a return to work isn’t realistic, be able to say why, specifically.
Common questions
Is there a spousal maintenance calculator for Washington? No. Some counties in other states publish guideline formulas; Washington doesn’t. Any calculator you find online is a guess dressed up as a rule.
Does it matter who filed for divorce or who caused it? No. Maintenance is decided “without regard to misconduct,” and who filed the petition is irrelevant.
Can both spouses be ordered to pay maintenance? No. Maintenance runs from the spouse with the greater ability to pay to the other. The statute allows an award to “either spouse,” which means the higher earner can be the wife or the husband.
This post is part of our series for the spouse who hasn’t been the earner. Start with the main guide, How does spousal maintenance work in Washington when you have no income of your own?, or read about how long maintenance lasts and why temporary orders matter most when you have no income.
Last updated September 2026.
Law Offices of Daniel Ehrlich, Everett. Family law in Snohomish, Island, King, and Skagit Counties. (425) 954-5578.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different. If you’re facing a divorce and maintenance is on the table, talk to an attorney.
