Effective September 1, 2025 , the Arizona Supreme Court has adopted significant revisions to the Arizona Spousal Maintenance Guidelines, pursuant to Administrative Order No. 2025-101. These revised Guidelines will apply to all spousal maintenance orders entered on or after that date, including original orders and modifications, except in cases of default or as otherwise agreed by the parties.
The revised Spousal Maintenance Calculator—which will soon be available online and as a downloadable Excel workbook—will also go into effect on September 1, 2025. Below is a summary of the most important substantive changes.
1. Threshold Clarifications
These changes clarify when and how the Guidelines should be applied, with added emphasis on judicial findings of eligibility and relaxed requirements for stipulated agreements.
Eligibility Must Be Determined First
- The revised Guidelines emphasize that courts may only apply the Guidelines after finding that a party is eligible under A.R.S. § 25-319(A). Eligibility cannot be established by simply using the calculator.
Agreements Outside the Guidelines Permitted
- Parties may still enter into agreements that deviate from the guideline ranges. A court may adopt such agreements if they are in writing or stated on the record pursuant to Rule 69, entered without duress or coercion, and compliant with A.R.S. § 25-317. The parties must also acknowledge “that they are aware of the Guidelines and the calculator, and if applicable, they have had an opportunity to calculate what that party believes to be the range provided by the Guidelines and the calculator.”
2. Income and Mortgage Principal
Several definitional and procedural revisions affect how courts calculate spousal maintenance income and attribute returns on assets. The family’s mortgage principal amount has been completely removed from the equation.
Overtime
- Courts should consider average overtime earnings over the three years before service if it was regularly earned during the marriage. Previously, there was no specific time period mentioned.
Income-Producing Property
- The 4% rate of return on income-producing property is no longer presumed. Courts may now apply a rate of return only “when equitable to do so.” The exemption for the first $100,000 has also been eliminated.
Retirement Assets
- Income may not be attributed from retirement accounts that would incur a penalty. Interest income can be attributed after age 59.5, while principal distributions may be attributed only after full retirement age. Social Security retirement income cannot be attributed until full retirement age.
Family Size
- Now expressly determined as of the date of service.
Mortgage Principal
- Mortgage principal payments have been removed as a consideration. They are no longer part of the guideline calculation.
- This, along with other changes to the higher-income adjustment (discussed below), result in a substantial decrease to the amount range.
3. Temporary Orders and Community Expenses
New provisions address attribution of actual income during temporary orders and how community expenses should be allocated.
Income Attribution
- Courts may now use actual income for a spouse who has worked less than 24 months if employed at the time of the hearing. Previously, the court could not attribute income unless the recipient had been continuously employed for 24 months prior to filing.
Community Expenses
- Courts now must allocate community expenses when making temporary orders and may reallocate them at the final hearing. Bobrow v. Bobrow , 241 Ariz. 592 (App. 2017), is cited as authority.
Duration Considerations
- Courts are encouraged to be mindful of the duration ranges during temporary orders, especially if the duration may expire before trial.
4. Duration Modifications
The revised Guidelines expand the maximum duration of spousal maintenance in long-term marriages.
Standard Duration Ranges
- For marriages of 16 years or more (192+ months) not subject to the Rule of 65, the maximum duration has increased from 8 years (96 months) to 12 years (144 months) or 50% of the length of the marriage, whichever is greater.
5. Calculator Adjustments
The revised calculator significantly alters the high-income adjustment, reducing awards for higher earners.
Higher-Income Adjustment
- Previously, there was a +1% adjustment applied for every $2,500 in intact family income above $100,000 per year, up to a maximum of an 80% increase.
- In the revised Guidelines, the income level at which the adjustment begins has increased from $100,000 to $175,000.
- The maximum adjustment has decreased from 80% to 70%, reducing spousal maintenance awards at higher income levels.
- At higher income levels, this results in a significant downward adjustment.
6. Data from First-Year Review
The Spousal Maintenance Guidelines Review Subcommittee reviewed empirical data gathered during the first year of implementation. This data is collected in the Subcommittee’s Final Report and Recommendations, and reflects wide-ranging durations and limited use of indefinite-term awards.
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490 cases analyzed (63% from Maricopa County).
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For final orders, the duration ranged from 4 months to 500 months (!)—almost 42 years.
- Average duration: 44 months
- Median duration: 24 months
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Data was collected on the average duration within each range:
- For cases in the 3-12 month standard range, the average duration awarded was 11 months.
- For cases in the 6-36 month standard range, the average duration awarded was 16 months.
- For cases in the 6-48 month standard range, the average duration awarded was 23 months.
- For cases in the 12-60 month standard range, the average duration awarded was 41 months.
- For cases in the 12-96 month standard range, the average duration awarded was 56 months.
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Rule of 65 applied in 32% of cases (average duration 55 months).
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Indefinite or extraordinary duration applied in only 2% of cases.
7. Conclusion
These updates are more than just tweaks around the edges. Practitioners will notice real changes in the numbers. Removing the mortgage principal from the equation means lower awards in cases where those payments previously increased the guideline range. And the revised calculator’s higher-income adjustment now kicks in at $175,000 rather than $100,000, with a lowered cap from 80% to 70%. That means recipients in higher-income households may see significantly reduced awards compared to the prior model.
While the updated online and Excel-based calculators have not yet been posted as of this writing, they are expected to be released prior to the September 1 effective date.
8. Links
- [Revised Spousal Maintenance Guidelines (Eff. September 1, 2025) - [Clean]](https://f004.backblazeb2.com/file/public-thouse/resources/2025-arizona-spousal-maintenance-guidelines.pdf)
- [Revised Spousal Maintenance Guidelines (Eff. September 1, 2025) - [Redline]](https://f004.backblazeb2.com/file/public-thouse/resources/2025-arizona-spousal-maintenance-redline.pdf)
- Final Report and Recommendations - Spousal Maintenance Guidelines Review Subcommittee (March 2025)
- Arizona Supreme Court - Administrative Order No. 2025-101
Taylor S. House
Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers focusing on complex divorce and custody matters, business valuations, and intricate financial issues.
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