Summary of Washington Alimony Law

Alimony (referred to as maintenance in Washington) is the court-ordered financial support of one spouse by the other spouse as a part of divorce.

The laws of Washington governing alimony are generally contained in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), available here.

Alimony can be granted during the pendency of actions taken in cases of legal separation, divorce or dissolution of marriage, declaration of invalidity of marriage or in a maintenance proceedings initiated after dissolution of marriage.

There are two basic types of alimony or maintenance in Washington: temporary maintenance and permanent maintenance. The Court has the power to decide which type of alimony to be awarded, case to case basis, either as agreed by the parties or it’s the Court’s discretion.

The alimony will be granted in specified amounts and for period as it deems fit, irrespective of the marital conduct. In determining whether to grant alimony, a court will consider all relevant factors, such as:

• • Financial resources of the party seeking maintenance, including separate or community property apportioned to him or her, and his or her ability to meet his or her needs independently, including the extent to which a provision for support of a child living with the party includes a sum for that party;
• • Time required to acquire sufficient education or training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find employment appropriate to his or her skill, interests, style of life, and other pertinent circumstances;
• • Standard of living established during the marriage;
• • Length of the marriage;
• • Age, physical and emotional condition, and financial obligations of the spouse seeking maintenance; and
• • Ability of the spouse from whom maintenance is sought to meet his or her needs and financial obligations while meeting those of the spouse seeking maintenance.

Tax Consequences of Alimony

It is important to understand that there may be tax implications for individuals who pay or receive alimony. According to Section 71 of the Internal Revenue Code, alimony must be included in the recipient’s gross income and can be excluded from the payer’s gross income.

However, it is critical that payments actually qualify as alimony under the law. To qualify as alimony (also according to Section 71 of the Internal Revenue Code), payments must generally meet five conditions:

• (1) The payment is be a cash payment (such as a check or money order)
• (2) The payment is received by (or on behalf of) a spouse under a “divorce or separation instrument”
• (3) The divorce or separation instrument does not designate the payment as a payment which is not includible in gross cross income as alimony and not allowable as a deduction for the payee spouse (under Section 215 of the Internal Revenue Code).
• (4) The payer and payee are not members of the same household at the time payments are made
• (5) There is no liability to make payments after the death of the recipient spouse