Alimony in Indiana: Who Qualifies and How Long It Lasts

If you're asking whether you can get "alimony" in Indiana, the direct answer is: Indiana doesn't use that term, and it doesn't offer open-ended spousal support. Instead, Indiana law allows a court to order one of three narrow, specific types of post-divorce "maintenance" — incapacity, caregiver, or rehabilitative — and each has its own eligibility rule. Only rehabilitative maintenance, the type most people end up asking about, comes with a hard time limit: it cannot exceed three years from the date of your final divorce decree. [Ind. Code 31-15-7-2]

Indiana Doesn't Call It "Alimony" — It's "Maintenance"

Many states use the word "alimony," but Indiana's statute uses the term "maintenance," and it is deliberately limited. A court is not free to award ongoing support simply because one spouse earned more during the marriage. Maintenance is only available if you fit into one of three specific categories set out in the statute. [Ind. Code 31-15-7-2]

The Three Types of Maintenance Indiana Courts Can Order

Incapacity Maintenance

A court may order maintenance if a spouse is physically or mentally incapacitated to the extent that their ability to support themselves is materially affected. This type of maintenance is tied to the incapacity itself — the statute describes it as lasting during the period of incapacity. [Ind. Code 31-15-7-2(1)]

Caregiver Maintenance

This applies when a spouse lacks sufficient property to meet their own needs and is the custodian of a child whose physical or mental incapacity requires that spouse to forgo employment. In other words, this isn't about caring for a healthy child — it's specifically tied to a child's incapacity that keeps the custodial parent out of the workforce. [Ind. Code 31-15-7-2(2)]

Rehabilitative Maintenance (the Three-Year Cap)

This is the category most people mean when they ask about "alimony" after a divorce where neither spouse has a disability. Rehabilitative maintenance is meant to help a spouse get back on their feet financially, and by law it may not exceed three (3) years from the date of the final divorce decree. [Ind. Code 31-15-7-2(3)]

When deciding whether to award it — and for how long, up to that three-year ceiling — the court must consider four factors:

• Each spouse's education level both at the time of the marriage and at the time the dissolution petition is filed;
• Whether either spouse's education, training, or employment was interrupted for homemaking or child care duties;
• Each spouse's earning capacity; and
• The time and expense it would take the spouse seeking maintenance to acquire the education or training needed to become self-supporting.

[Ind. Code 31-15-7-2(3)]

How Long Maintenance Actually Lasts

There is no single answer that applies to every Indiana case, because the duration depends entirely on which type of maintenance a court awards:

• Incapacity maintenance — tied to how long the incapacity lasts.
• Caregiver maintenance — tied to how long the child's incapacity requires the custodial spouse to stay out of the workforce.
• Rehabilitative maintenance — capped at three years from the final decree, no matter what.

Time-sensitive: the three-year cap on rehabilitative maintenance runs from the date of your final decree, not from when you first ask for maintenance — so delays in finalizing your divorce can eat into that window.

[Ind. Code 31-15-7-2]

Maintenance Is Separate From Property Division

Don't confuse maintenance with your share of marital property. Indiana divides marital property under a rebuttable presumption that an equal, 50/50 division is just and reasonable. That presumption can be argued against on the facts of your case, but the starting point set by law is an even split, independent of whether either spouse also receives maintenance. [Ind. Code 31-15-7-5]

Can a Maintenance Order Be Changed Later?

Yes, but the bar is higher than many people expect. A maintenance order can be modified or revoked only upon a showing of changed circumstances so substantial and continuing that the current terms have become unreasonable. Importantly, the 20%/12-month "guideline variance" shortcut that exists for child support modification does not apply to maintenance — there is no simple percentage test. If your income or your ex-spouse's income changes, that fact alone does not automatically entitle you to a modification; you'll need to show it meets this stricter "substantial and continuing" standard. [Ind. Code 31-16-8-1]

Maintenance Is Not the Same as Child Support

Maintenance (spousal support) and child support are calculated and ordered separately under Indiana law. Child support amounts are worked out using the Indiana Child Support Guidelines, which define "weekly gross income" broadly to include actual income if a parent is employed to full capacity, potential income if a parent is unemployed or underemployed, and the value of in-kind benefits. That guideline definition governs child support calculations — it is a distinct process from the maintenance analysis described above, even though both may come up in the same divorce case. [Indiana Child Support Guideline 3A]

What You Can Do in Indiana

1. Confirm you can file in Indiana. You (the petitioner) or your spouse (the respondent) generally must have been an Indiana resident for 6 months, and a resident of the county where you're filing for 3 months, immediately before filing for divorce. [Ind. Code 31-15-2-6]
2. Identify which type of maintenance might fit your situation — incapacity, caregiver, or rehabilitative — since each has its own proof requirements.
3. Gather documentation early for the rehabilitative-maintenance factors: your education history at marriage and at filing, any career or education interruptions for homemaking or child care, your current earning capacity, and realistic estimates of the time and cost to get more training or education.
4. Track the timeline. If rehabilitative maintenance is on the table, remember the three-year clock starts at your final decree — so understand how the pace of your case could affect that window.
5. Don't assume property division and maintenance are linked. Prepare separately to address the 50/50 property presumption and any argument for departing from it.
6. If circumstances change later, understand you'll need to show a substantial and continuing change to modify maintenance — not just a temporary dip or bump in income.
7. Confirm current details with your Indiana court or an Indiana family-law attorney before relying on any specific number, deadline, or procedure — court rules and forms can vary by county and change over time.

Maintenance and Bankruptcy

If you or your ex-spouse later files for bankruptcy, know that court-ordered spousal maintenance is treated as a non-dischargeable "domestic support obligation" — meaning it cannot be wiped out in bankruptcy — and it is paid first among unsecured claims. Debts arising from a property settlement owed to an ex-spouse under a divorce decree are also generally non-dischargeable in a Chapter 7 case. [11 U.S.C. §§ 523(a)(5), 523(a)(15), 507(a)(1)]

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice; consult a licensed Indiana attorney about your specific situation.